Tabula Rasa
by Aitwo
Summary: The YuGiOh gang encounter someone who turns their lives around, and join them in their search for the reason behind their mysterious appearance, but where did they come from? And is a lost past something that should be forgotten or embraced?
1. Chapter 1

Tabula Rasa

Aitwo: "Hello all! This is my second attempt at a fanfic, a few people reading this may have read my first fic, sadly that was removed by forces outside my control and will not be replaced. This is a brand new fic, as you can see I'm still moving in!" The place is covered in plastic and those little white foam things.

Bakura: It's about damn bloody time! I refuse to stay in that Sakura30's fic any longer! I had to share a room with her version of me! He kept blocking the bath with his hair!

Yami: You have the same hair, how do you know it's not yours?

Bakura: Because I don't block the bath!

Sakura looks at all the bubble wrap. "Can I play with the bubble wrap?"

A figure walks in, covered in shadow. _"Isn't that childish?"_

Sakura: --x I have university work, work work and I can't work on my fic. I want to tell my readers I am so sorry!

The figure hands over the bubble wrap because Sakura looks so sad "_Here..." _

Sakura: "Yay! Bubbles!" Extremely happy.

Aitwo: This fic was written with the help of two real cool people, two powerful authoresses Sakura30 (whom I call Sakura) and Crouching Tigress (CT), without those two people… no fic, simple as that! Please read my fic, and read theirs! Their fics are cool!

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Discovery

It all started one night, when someone was desperately running down a deserted lot…he was breathing hard, and he didn't seem to take much note of his surroundings.

As he was running, his leg banged into something he couldn't see, something rough and dented. When he stumbled, his hand caught the invisible object and his questioning fingers recognised the cold touch of steel, the circular shape and the regular indents in the metal. He breathed in relief, it was just a dustbin. He used it to help himself up and shuddered as his hand slipped, confirmed that it was definitely an ordinary everyday trash can, when it touched the best left unknown contents inside.

He drew his hand out as quickly as possible, and wiped it on his worn black trousers automatically. If only he could see…he lifted his newly wiped hand in front of him. He could see his hand, he tugged at the top of his white shirt until he could see the white collar in the corners of his vision, then his black jacket, and his trainers…he could see everything about himself, from his clothes to his pendant that was swinging slightly from its cord around his neck so clearly, except...for everything else.

He used the brief moment of visual inspection to breathe easy, it was hard to forget he was trying to escape, but he needed to rest. Absentmindedly he knelt down to what he hoped was the ground and carefully felt around, until he discovered by the feel, the same rough metal, a dustbin lid. After a few attempts, he successfully got one on top of the other, right after he did it, he wondered why. It was a stupid, trivial thing to do, but maybe it was one way his mind was coping with the feelings of panic and confusion.

He shook his head more for the look of the thing, than the fact it helped clear his head. He stood, wobbling as he did so, until the trembling faded from his legs. He started to walk again; he couldn't stay here, wherever it was…he almost jumped when a loud clanging sound reverberated through the area. He could see the sound moving through the air as greyish ripples, like that of a surface of a lake, when something is thrown inside, whatever had made the sound was close. He looked around wildly, had he been found? He twisted and turned, but he couldn't see anything…more importantly he couldn't hear anything, no footsteps, no low breathing or the small heart stopping mechanical click of weapons being aimed towards you, his heart rate started to drop to something more normal.

His legs were still shaking from the bang, when his foot nudged something; it made an innocent sounding clink upon contact with the tip of his shoe. He frowned, reached down and picked it up. In his hand all he could see was a strange whirling blur of grey and black, yet the cold metallic feeling was obvious, it was the dustbin lid. It had slipped off the bin, causing the noise. With his blurring vision, he must have misjudged where the bin was, and gravity had done the rest.

He looked around the flickering landscape, closely for the first time. Everything was in motion, colours moved around like water, sliding from one end of the horizon to the other. The walls (he assumed that was what the blocks of colour a few steps to either side of him were) around him, seemed to change their heights at complete random moments. The floor was solid to his feet, but his eyes could see the waves his slightest motion caused and with the lack of edges in his vision, he was unsure where to tread. It was like a surreal nightmare, he couldn't tell where he was, how far he had ran or even how he had got to this place. It made him dizzy to stare at things for too long.

The once silent air was beginning to fill with noise; it started quiet, as if someone had muffled his ears before with cotton wool. He could hear this swish rush somewhere ahead of him; he shut his eyes for a minute…it sounded like… a car? He knew that he was outside. He must be near a road; he grasped this thought tight, a road, which meant people. People meant help; he would be able to beg for help. He took two more steps forward, his legs brushed against things; he was finding it harder to move now. More noise filtered through as he got closer, a quieter noise, but it was consistent. In his mind, it was the sound a bee would make if it was bigger.

His limbs seemed to be getting heavy as he moved towards the noises. Cool air hung inviting before him, as the swaying walls seemed to widen. He shielded his eyes from a floating orb of yellowish orange light in front of him that seemed to act as a borderline. On the other side beyond, dark cool shades of blue and black, the occasional streak of red and amber light flashed and vanished, with an after shock of wind.

His shoulder brushed a cool surface, as he swayed, it felt like brick. The cool air that had only just started to make its presence known only seemed to make things worse. He hadn't realised how hot he was, his shirt was already growing damp and sticky with sweat. The "buzzing noise" seemed to be growing louder; the orange light at first had seemed like a rescue beacon, now was beginning to blind him. The buzzing seemed to enter his head, making it spin; the colours also started to spin, as if using the buzzing as a song and his internal state as their dance steps.

The surrounding colours merged, splashed and jumped at him, he gripped his pendant's cord tightly, as if it could ward off the colours. He backed away from the buzzing orb; the colours from the "walls" and "floor" followed him, sloshing around his feet like a slow tide. He stumbled, falling over something else he couldn't see, his hands fell on something sharp and he hissed through his teeth.

He tried to sit up, but he couldn't, the best he could do was to push himself up with his elbow. He could feel sharp objects under his body, he tried not to move too much and he looked at his left hand. A few small cuts and a deep gash on his palm was just visible, but in his now blurring vision, he was sure little glints of green and brown could just be seen in the cut. His eyes were failing him now, he tried to get up as the colours grew murky, and the heat overwhelmed him.

Outside in the night other people were travelling as well, one such couple was travelling to the warmth of their homes.

Sarah looked at the dark street, and gripped her boyfriend's arm slightly tighter. The slight squeeze made him look down at her, and he smoothed her ginger hair down.

"Is something wrong?" Her boyfriend asked as he looked at her with warm eyes, and continued to stroke her hair, like her father had when she was small and afraid of monsters in the dark. She took his big warm hand, and gripped it with her own smaller one; his warm hands made her feel safer somehow.

Sarah shook her head, and tried to smile in a brave way. She tried to get closer to Alex, as a chilly wind blew, and a car drove by at the same moment, the extra noise and motion made her shiver harder than she meant to.

Alex wrapped an arm around Sarah, using the free hand to pull up the edge of her brown coat, so that the furred collar nestled her neck. It was a cold night, the lack of people made the place seem lifeless, giving the street a hollow empty look. He was also feeling the same vibe. Yet it was the fastest way back to Sarah's flat, even if the place was desolate, this late all the streets were probably the same and the only thing out there was shadows and the occasional feral cat hunting for scraps. He wouldn't want a girl to walk home alone.

Sarah flipped her long hair out of the fur collar, letting it catch in the yellow streetlamps, making it glow an unnatural cherry red. The cast of light made by the lamp made Sarah feel better, it knocked the night back a step. They were about to walk on, past a small alley when Alex frowned, and stopped for a minute.

Sarah almost bumped into him, and gripped his shoulder. "What's wrong?" She said, as she looked for the reason he'd stopped. "Did you see something?"

His sudden stillness stunted her growing feelings of safety, as fast as he had made them grow. He looked so serious, and the quiet night only made it worse.

Her voice remained quavering in the air, as she watched Alex take another step as he peered into the alley connected to the street; all Sarah could see were some huge garbage bags lying on the side. There were just vague lumps leaning on the side of the wall, only something like a naked woman would normally get this much of a guy's attention, and Sarah was sure that only trash was lying round here!

Alex looked at Sarah; his voice was a whisper, as he started to move one of the heavy bags that obstructed the floor. She had to lean in to hear him whisper. "I thought I saw something… something strange and it was shining near this trash."

Sarah looked at the rubbish littering the ground, with a sore look. "It was probably a bit of wrapper, can we go now?" She said in a low scolding tone, as the dark mood of the night made her keep her voice quiet.

The wind moaned as it went through, as if it too was scared of staying in this dank alley. Sarah started fiddling with her long hair, this was stupid, and searching in the trash for what was most likely a piece of sticky foil was even more stupid! Yet Alex worked at moving the trash like a man possessed, and even he wouldn't mess around with her this late and in the cold?

Alex huffing as he was still moving the contents of someone's late night trash. "It looked bigger than a piece of wrapper-"

Alex stopped speaking, when he could finally completely see what was behind the trash, and Sarah tried to look over his shoulder. He used his body and forced her back a step.

Sarah strained to see. "What is it?"

The glare of the lamp made it hard to see anything on the ground clearly, Sarah tried shielding her eyes, but all she could see was pockets of black shadows.

Alex leaned down in the trash, carefully wiping away glass from the general area. "I think we should call someone…"

Sarah tightened her coat, cuddling against one of the walls, in a hopeless attempt to fight off the cold. "Alex?" She stretched his name as she spoke it

Alex moved aside, glass crunching under his feet as he did so. Sarah took a few steps forward to stand where Alex had, she could see shards of broken bottle everywhere, the trash bag Alex moved must have been torn…

Alex had moved right behind her, she could feel his hand on her shoulder. She stared into the dark alley; all she could see were rotten leaves, garbage bags and two trash cans. She looked left and right, at the walls, but with no idea what to look at, her glances lacked focus. The light of the lamp made it harder to see, everything was… well very dark.

Sarah narrowed her eyes, desperate, to see what was so important. "I can't see anything…"

Alex placed his head on her shoulder and pointed to the edge of the alley. "There. Just there." Sarah followed Alex's finger, at first she couldn't see anything, until a glint caught her eye. A golden glint…then she saw it.

"The ambulance came 20 minutes after the call from the girl's mobile. The patient came in with a very high temperature; it was a lot higher than first suspected due to the patient's long exposure to the cold lowering the outer body temperature.

The patient had numerous cuts and a deep cut on their left hand, the cuts and gash were probably caused by the sharp objects that littering the ground. "

The doctor spoke slowly, as he walked towards the bed. As he finally reached the patient, he stroked his short beard, as he seemed to think about what to say next.

The nurse made a few notes in her mind. She carried the file under her arm

"Have we found any identification?"

The doctor shook his head.

"We are hoping that since he is recovering well, that he will soon be able to tell us himself."

The nurse looked at the newest patient. Delicate bangs hung loosely over the closed eyes; his skin still seemed pale from the cold, only seemed to make his hair even more striking.

She moved the bangs that covered his eyes, and looped them back behind his ear. His ears were icy to the touch, despite the warmth of the room. She sighed under her breath. "It's a shame, a cute boy like him."

Doctor continued reviewing the patient's injuries "There are signs that the patient may have been beaten or had previous accidents. There are old bruises on his arms, chest and legs." He looked at the patient and at his notes.

The nurse consulted her notes "The girl said 10 minutes before the ambulance came, the patient regain consciousness."

She read the girl's account to herself. It was a copy of a report that was to be given to the police, with a description of the patient. She could almost imagine the girl's voice saying the words as she read them.

"Alex had picked up the boy really carefully, due to all the broken glass. We were afraid that if we didn't move him that he could get more cuts. I took off my coat and wrapped it around the boy, because the clothes he wore were light and probably weren't keeping him warm.

Alex put him down under the street light; the light seemed to wake him up, because his eyes opened a little bit. I asked him where he came from; he looked at me as if he was lost and said "_I don't know._" His voice was really slow; I think it was hard for him to think properly. I asked him where his parents were, he looked at me again really confused. He said "_Parents? I don't have any parents." _I asked him what his name was, he said "_My name… my name is…" _After that he slipped back into unconsciousness. We tried to keep him warm, until the ambulance came."

She muttered to herself. "No parents, maybe he was running from something."

Doctor overheard her, and gave her a look "It's wrong to assume the worst." He reviewed the notes of the patient's discovery. "Our John Doe may have just got lost trying to get home."

In another place a similar discussion was going on…

Sunlight filtered through the six diamond shaped windows spread across the top of the room, dust spun in the sunbeams, and landed on the light cream carpet underneath it.

The owner of the room rubbed his finger on the circular table near his chair. It was a little master piece, the legs of the table were composed of a golden circle base the legs were from two opposing sides and were crafted in the pattern of weaving vines. A pair of golden leaves with grapes or cherries was at the top of each vine "leg". The glass was held in place with a rim of gold connected to legs. The light from the table refracted against the light red walls, which also held a similar pattern of gold leaf. It held the right atmosphere for the business he was conducting

He held up the glass of white wine he had on the table to the light. It was a beautiful light amber liquid. It would not do, if he spoke too soon and stopped his guest's torment. He smiled slightly as he sipped, watching his guest sweat in front of him.

He spoke in a low tone, making sure to keep his voice level and calm.

"You have something to tell me?" He smiled at the "boy", he still in many ways, looked like a young teen, especially with his baby face but there were physical signs that he was older than he appeared.

His guest nodded, he tried to keep his head low, but his gaze was always drawn back to the man in the chair. The man leant forth.

"Kozo? I'm growing bored of watching you just breathing."

Kozo pushed his long pale green pony tail back. He didn't like talking to this guy for many reasons. One of the main reasons right now, was that he was going to get burned no matter what he said. So he said it bluntly.

"I don't know how he got away, I don't know how he escaped the guard I placed with him or where he is right now. He could be anywhere."

There was little more that needed to be said. Details were pointless, it would just be whining. Kozo watched him sip some more wine, and for a moment he held the glass at such an angle that Kozo thought the man would throw it at him and he ducked in anticipation.

"Get off the floor, you look pathetic. I wouldn't want to ruin my carpet or waste such good wine."

Kozo placed his hand on his knee and pushed himself up; he dusted his black jacket and waited. The figure fingered the stem of his wine glass for a moment, before he looked at Kozo angrily.

"What are you standing around for? Go and find that… that Maverick!"

Kozo nodded, and left through the door behind him. The figure in the chair waited for the door to click shut, and then he counted to ten under his breath, running his free hand through his own shorter darker green hair.

"I know you followed Kozo in here. You heard everything?"

A figure was leaning against the doorframe, if you had looked at the room beforehand, you would have sworn no one was there. Yet there he was, large as life. His white hair made his dark eyes more piercing, as he nodded.

"Cut the dramatics Munin, come take a seat."

Munin pushed himself away from the door with a satisfied smile, and drew up another chair next to Hugin, his closest "friend", and Kozo's tormenter. He found these fancy chairs of velvet and metal clawed feet uncomfortable and pointless. He grimaced at the lion clawed feet of his chair before he sat. Hugin had obviously purchased the damn things, just so he would be forced to sit in one.

Hugin smiled at his friend's discomfort. "Wine?" Offering a glass and a bottle to Munin "White or red?"

Munin waved the proffered glass away.

"You know that I know you just drink, when your brother is around to show off. "

He ran his hand over the glass table in a similar way that Hugin had done.

Munin nodded towards the door as he started to talk. "What are you going to do about him?" Hugin knew immediately who Munin was referring to; he remained silent as his fellow partner kept going. "You know you can't let Kozo handle something like this. You should report him, so that such a blunder will never happen again."

Hugin placed his glass down, and looked at Munin.

"I could do that, but this could turn out to be useful. I think this case should be dealt with…personally."

His friend smiled, finally a chance to return to their old ways…out of this plush and lazy lifestyle and walk outside in the world again and hunt down this fool that thought he could escape.

Munin: I think I'll go tell our third partner the news.

Hugin smiled at his friend's eagerness, and saluted his friend with his semi-empty wine glass. The white-haired male smiled as well, as he shut the door behind him. The chase was going to begin as soon as they were ready.

Meanwhile, at about the same time Yugi had just left the Game Shop. Its early afternoon, a clear day, and that's the one of the very reasons everyone had decided to meet outside in the fresh air. The park waited

"Man, look at all the cool duel monster cards I got!"

The blond youth was sitting on a park bench, hugging a bunch of new cards to his chest. He pulled them away, to gaze at them with an extremely goofy grin.

"Hehe… Yugi you're the best!"

The smaller boy, who sat next to him on the bench, smiled at his friend's child-like delight.

"No problem Joey. I knew you'd find those cards useful." The cards had been his, but he knew that they would be better suited to his friend's deck.

Joey grinned even more as he tucked the cards into his deck. They were waiting for Tristan, Tea, and Ryou.

"I sure will." The teen nodded. "I bet with cards this good, I could beat Kaiba!"

Yugi's face turned into a nervous grin at his friend's overwhelming conviction.

"Let's not get carried away Joey."

Yugi leaned back on the bench, normally Joey would be bartering for new cards with his Grandpa right now in the shop, but today Grandpa had closed the shop. His Grandpa's reasons being that he had some important errands to run, Yugi had offered to run the shop for him, but Grandpa had declined saying that he should spend the beautiful Saturday out with his friends.

Grandpa hadn't mentioned what the errands were to the group and they (Tea, Tristan, Joey and Ryou) assumed it must be important to close the shop down. However, his Grandpa had seemed cheerful, when he mentioned it, and Yugi wasn't acting too worried, so everyone was sure that his Grandpa was having just as much fun as they would…

When the gang had discovered they couldn't trade cards inside like they originally planned, it had been Ryou's idea to come to the park, "The sunshine will do us some good" was his reasoning.

Everyone agreed when they arrived that this was a great place to relax and hang out. Surprisingly there had been quite a lot of young duellists trading as well; Yugi had got quite a few offers for his God cards and even a few challenges…

It had started the moment Yugi had drawn out his deck and had pulled out the God cards to keep them safe, but the moment the sun fell on the red, blue and gold edges of the cards. Yugi found a small group had gathered around him, like metal to a magnet.

"Are those really the famous God cards?"

"Oh wow, oh wow, I want to see them too."

Yugi and Joey were getting squeezed as more kids appeared, pushing the children in front of them to get a look at the cards. But soon the voices turned from mere requests to see, but requests to duel for them.

"Who cares about just seeing them? I want them! Yugi, I challenge you to duel! Your God cards for my whole deck!"

Yugi sweatdropped, as other offers and challenges were issued. He had refused them, as much as he could, but the group got moodier and moodier that more he declined, until Joey used his own body to make a space that they could escape through.

Joey looked at Yugi, who had quickly placed the cards back in his deck pouch, to keep them safe from wandering hands. "Why did you have to bring those cards?"

"I can't leave them at home, someone's bound to try and steal them." The group of duelists chased them… "I guess that I don't have to worry about that anymore."

Joey looked at the mob. "Yeah, you're probably going to get mugged."

"Here, Yugi!" It was about two hours later. The group had chased Joey and Yugi for all that time. Tea, Tristan and Ryou and seen the predicament (how could they not?) and helped them escape… distracting with fake "God cards", coloured cardboard. Eventually they had found a quiet spot to rest.

Yugi looked at the ice-cream cone with a napkin wrapped around the cone. Tea's hands held two, one for him and one for Joey. He took it gratefully, gave Tea a smile and thanked her. It was just what they needed on a nice day like this. He watched everyone else enjoy their ice-cream too.

They were all just glad to have some time to relax; the whole group had had a small friendly tournament just for fun (with nothing on the line for once). Ryou had acted as official score-keeper, so that the Spirit of the Ring Bakura wouldn't be tempted to cause any mischief. It seemed to work; maybe even evil spirits found it too nice a day to ruin? Whatever the reason Bakura had remained silent and their little tournament had gone without a single hitch. Yugi and Joey had been the main winners overall, but Tea had come extremely close to beating Joey after defeating Tristan (who to be fair had the least experience), but Yugi had been the overall champion. The excitement of the duels had made everyone warm so Tea and Ryou had volunteered to get ice-creams.

"So Yugi," Tea said as she licked her ice-cream as she sat on the nearby park bench in her yellow top and her matching skirt. "What was the errand your Grandpa went on?"

"He's just gone to the hospital." Yugi noticed the looks of worry and immediately waved his hands in a dismissively manner as if to wave their concern away. "No, no, don't worry guys Grandpa's just fine, he's not sick."

There were many looks of relief. "Thank goodness for that." Ryou said in his polite voice. "After everything your Grandpa has been through, I was worried…"

Yugi laughed. "Grandpa's fitter than ever, Ryou."

His friends looked at him with much confusion.

"If Gramps is so healthy, then why has he gone to the hospital Yug?" Joey enquired; the others stared at Yugi, their stares said no fake answers would do. Yugi started to sweat, but tried to keep a calm face. It was a huge secret and he had promised Grandpa that he wouldn't tell anybody because it would embarrass him.

"Spit it out Yug." And Joey's huge arm wrapped around Yugi's head in a relaxed headlock. "You know it's no good keeping secrets from your friends-"

"-because we'll just find out anyway!" The group spoke in unison.

Yugi sighed, it was no use. He could tell by the grins and curious expressions that his friends were going to badger him for the whole day until they knew the truth…

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you." Yugi said in the midst of Joey's headlock. "But you have to promise not to tell anyone." Joey let him go from the lock.

Each of his friends swore to keep it a secret. Yugi smiled, he knew he could trust them really, after all they knew about Yami, and this secret wasn't as strange as that by a long shot. Yugi sat down on the grass next to the grass; it was warm and dry in the heat of the sun and licked his quickly melting ice-cream, before he began.

"This the time of the year, where my Grandpa cleans out all of the unsold stock from the Game shop, you know all the games, the puzzles and even the occasionally toy that are overlooked."

He stopped to lick a lick a little more, while his friends eagerly waited the "big" secret, although none of them could guess what the hospital had to do with the Game shop.

"Well, Grandpa doesn't like the idea of just throwing games away. He loves games and it makes him happy knowing that they are-" Yugi emphasised the word. "Somewhere where they will be used…"

Most of his friends nodded in understanding, but soon after Joey nodded and he blinked. Yugi could see he hadn't made the link yet.

"Hmm Yug, I don't see wha-" Tristan lightly knocked his blond friend on the side of his head. He spoke as Joey rubbed his head while muttering something, like "What was that for?"

"Don't you see Joey? Yugi's grandfather takes all those things to the hospital, right Yugi?"

Yugi, nodded. "Right."

"Like a modern day Chris Crinkle", Ryou pointed out. Joey shook his head up and down furiously so they knew he got it, and then he stopped.

"But that's just like your Gramps to be thinking of others, why did you need to keep it a secret?"

Tea butted in with "Your Grandpa is so kind, Yugi."

Yugi couldn't help sweatdropping; this was the exact reaction he'd been expecting from them.

"Grandpa didn't want you to know, because he doesn't want all the attention. It's something he just loves to do; knowing the games will be played makes him happy.

Grandpa also knows that it stops kids getting bored and he gives them Duel Monster cards so even in the hospital and they can make friends playing the game."

Tristan and Joey had their arms covering their eyes. "That's so beautiful!" Tea and Ryou looked at the pair; Tea shook her head, while Ryou just shrugged.

Ryou looked at Yugi, "Why didn't you go with him?"

Yugi just replied, "Grandpa said that I should enjoy myself, besides" He gave them all a nervous smile. "I would like to help my Grandpa… but all that attention he gets, I don't think I could handle it the way he does."

Yugi and his friends finished their ice-creams quietly. As they decided to leave the park for some time in the arcade, Yugi asked them not to make a big deal about it in front of his Grandpa (Yugi's grandpa had suspected that Yugi would get the third degree and since he knew his grandson didn't like to lie to his friends, had told Yugi he could tell them if they asked, as long as it wouldn't spread from there.). Everyone agreed to keep it quiet and with that they headed off trying to avoid the gangs of card "sharks".

"So what game are you going to play Joey?" Yugi asked.

The tall blond grinned and replied. "I was hoping to have a re-match with a buddy of mine. Win back some dignity."

"Now then Joey," Ryou intersected "Do you mean the dignity you lost at fighting games with Yugi, the dance machine game with Tea, the shooting games with Tristan or the table hockey with me?"

There was an uncomfortable pause as Joey's upbeat confidence hit a small obstacle…reality. "Come on Ryou… I'm not that bad."

Sadly Joey was too tempting a target. Tristan, like his hair, had to make a point. "The only game you have any hope in is Duel Monsters…and you had no clue how to play that at all, until Yugi and his Grandpa helped you."

Joey looked at Yugi, who immediately started a conversation with Tea about challenging her to a game of table hockey. Yet Yugi felt the look, so eventually answered, "Joey was good to begin with, he just needed a little bit of help. Besides, Joey could enter up beating all of us."

"Yeah! You guys better beware Wheeler is on the loose!" He punched the air with his fist.

Tea sweatdrops at the sight of the new rising confidence coming from the youth, making him act daft. "Oh, we're aware all right."

At the same time, Yugi's Grandpa had finished sorting through his entire leftover inventory and had made it to the hospital, specifically this was for the children wards, he also gave games to older teens, and there was no age restriction for games (he was living proof of that).

He carried it all in a non-descriptive box, which made his bones ache a little, none of the toys were wrapped and all of them were cleared of their price tags. Most of the games were those small kinds, like cards, puzzles (which included mazes, brain puzzles), kendamas, things that didn't involve too much physical exertion. He was well aware that this was still a hospital and people had been hurt.

He went through the sliding glass doors, which opened as he approached. He smiled at the nurse at the front desk, who recognised him immediately, and she smiled back at him. He had done this quite a few times, it was starting to become routine among the long-term staff.

The receptionist smiled warmly as she spoke, "Good morning, Mr Motou. That looks like a heavy box."

He replied, "It is."

She answered reassuringly, "I'm sure we'll be able to find lots of children who will just love the items you brought."

Grandpa winked. "Ho ho, I sure hope so. I'll go place the box in the children's ward, so they can pick the games themselves."

She nodded back, "Okay, thanks again, Mr Motou."

Grandpa walked down the corridor, keeping to the side, as doctors, nurses, and visitors for the patients filtered pass him. He made it to the children's ward, to the rows of identical beds, most of the curtains were pulled back… most of the cases were relatively small compared to some of the things that could happen, and many of the children liked to chat to each other, so the curtains were kept back so they could speak freely. Of course the chatter was small; because they had been told by nurses that some of the occupants would need to rest, but they were children after all… even in a hospital you couldn't keep them quiet for long.

This reminded Grandpa of the very day that had inspired the "tradition". Yugi had been a young bright-eyed child and he had just taken an interest in the Puzzle, which in those days had been previously sitting on a shelf collecting dust. He had walked down the same corridor, into the same children ward, just to see a little red face smile at him… Yugi had come down with a very bad fever, and Grandpa had decided that he should spend one night in hospital just to be safe. He had gone back to the Shop, to get some puzzles and games so Yugi wouldn't feel so bad or get bored.

Of course, Yugi had dived right into a puzzle…Grandpa had stayed for the whole time, watching him figure it out, but this time, Yugi seemed to have problems with this particular puzzle (A slip all the connecting pieces off and then reconstruct it puzzle.) Grandpa couldn't remember exactly which piece or what it had looked like, but he could still remember those eyes staring at the piece of twisted metal, questioning it to change, the way the little fingers had held the metal from every angle. The old man could still picture the youthful disappointment of not being able to solve the problem right away to this day.

Yugi may have given up on that puzzle for another one, if another little child; a small girl had been watching from her own bed, and said. "Why don't you twist that round bit?" She made a loop with two of her fingers. Yugi had looked at the loop, twisted and voila it fell off.

That bright smile and the small girl's laugh at seeing his little grandson bouncing up and down in his bed in excitement, even with his fever had made Grandpa laugh as he tried to restraint his victorious grandson before he came to regret it. Finally he calmed down, and quickly restored it to its former connected state.

Grandpa pulled out another, a picture puzzle, when Yugi tugged at his grandfather's sleeve and said. "Can she have it?" He pointed at the small girl that had helped him out. "She looks bored." Grandpa smiled, and handed the toy to the girl…between the two, they worked through the games, laughing and joking.

The next morning, Yugi was well enough to leave, and they said goodbye to his new friend. Yugi gave her one of the small puzzles to play with, as a gift… That is when Grandpa realised that other children might benefit from these games and the next year, after he sorted all his excess games, he went to the hospital, and the tradition was born.

He smiled as he returned to today; a few of the children were in the middle of a Duel Monsters game, the ones that were able, were sitting in chairs around one person's bed. He quietly put the box down in the corner he normally did, the attending nurse noticed it, and recognised it. He smiled and was about to leave, when a bed caught his eye.

Most of the children were wide awake, and even those who were sleeping, normally had someone with them, friends or family. This one was empty, there wasn't even a "Get Well" card or a single balloon to decorate it, but that wasn't the thing that drew his eye. It was the young boy sleeping silently on the pillow; their arms were bare and had been positioned on top of the covers. Mr Motou could see that they were covered in small flesh-coloured bandages. The child's skin seemed pale, especially against the dark coloured hair that was spread out on the soft padding of the hospital pillow.

One hand of the boy was gripping a familiar item that lay on his stomach… it was a dangerous thing to keep on the bed of a sleeping patient, it could be stolen or injure them as they turned in their sleep, but for some reason the nurses had decided against removing it from him… perhaps in the depths of his sleep, they could not remove it from him without causing more harm than they dare.

That item and the boy's appearance… it frightened him, but he had just seen him this morning, this was impossible, and yet…

He went up to the nurse, as she scolded the children for getting loud in the middle of one of the turns. "Excuse me, nurse."

The attending nurse turned to him, "Yes, sir?"

"When was that boy brought in?" He nodded to the bed. She looked at him.

"He was brought in last night, we hadn't found any family as of yet, do you know him?"

He mentally shook his head; the time of arrival had been too late for it to be him.

He looked at the young boy… he had to tell his grandson. This could involve him and his friends, this was… strange. Lying in a hospital bed was someone who looked exactly like his grandson, and what was stranger was that he also had an identical replica of the Puzzle.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please tell me what you think.

Yugi: The more positive reviews the more encouraged Aitwo will be to keep writing the story!

Aitwo: Constructive criticism welcome to, but say it nicely please.


	2. The First Game

Tabula Rasa

Aitwo: Welcome readers, welcome to the long in coming second chapter to my fic. Assignments and essays have prevented me from uploading it until today. Rejoice good people.

Bakura: What people, only one person has read your stupid story.

Aitwo looks sad. "I know, you didn't have to bring it up you meanie!" Aitwo looks at the audience. "Why don't you like me?"

Bakura: because you're crazy?

Aitwo grabs a weapon. "Die!" She starts bashing Bakura. "Enjoy the second chapter! Please review and prove my Bakura wrong, you know you want to!"

Chapter 2 

A pale youth, sleeping, dressed in a light green gown.

Black, purple and blond hair combed outwards into a star.

An intravenous tube, full of colourless liquid taped to a motionless arm, like a tiny glass snake.

Fingers curled around a gold ring of an ancient pendant.

The boy was a mystery… that's what Grandpa thought as he left the hospital. He had told the nurse that he believed that the child was his grandson. The nurse had been sceptical, until he had shown the nurse a photograph of Yugi and himself.

He had been taken to a private relative's room, once the doctor who was taking care of his "grandson" was himself convinced by the photographic evidence enough to confide on the patient's condition… after they questioned him, of course and performed a few tests (one a blood test was surely to prove they were related).

First they asked him many questions about his grandson's medical history, contacting his closest guardian if there was one after him, whether he had any previous medical conditions or injuries that he knew of, things of that nature. Grandpa had answered the questions as if for his own grandson as best he could (since he "believed" this was his grandson, it would be best to honest about his history), and then they entered a realm of questions, that he were just as confounding to him as to them.

"Do you know where your grandson was before he was brought in?

Was he alone or with friends?

Is he or has he been involved with any drugs or similar substances that might interfere with any treatments?"

A long list of questions, some that seemed almost identical to ones mentioned before, since Grandpa didn't know all the answers himself, his answers didn't really help the doctor, thus the process seemed slow and burdened but it was aided with cups of tea and biscuits, which the nurse handed to him.

The doctor looked just as worn out as he did. He couldn't give the medical staff anything that could explain why this child was laying in a bed now, only the basic life signs to indicate he was living. Finally two hours had passed, of checking and re-checking questions…and the doctor seemed to come to the decision as he stroked his beard. He placed down his cup and looked Grandpa straight in the eyes.

"Your grandson was found alone and feverish in a deserted street a couple of days ago. He was found by two people on their way home. He was brought here, with a high fever, which we are treating. As far as we can tell, he has no other injuries or illness…except for his fever and not regaining consciousness since his time with us."

The doctor draped one arm over his knees as he leaned forward, and continued.

"I am grateful that we have finally contacted some family for the boy, but on a personal level I am surprised by the strange circumstances. Yet even in a hospital, it is not uncommon to have children wander in here with no past."

Grandpa listened to the concerned words, but as he did so he rose from his seat. He had to return to the Game shop and speak to Yugi about this. "I am surprised and shocked as well." He spoke every word true. "I would be very grateful, if you could contact me the moment there are any changes, I will return tomorrow."

The doctor rose as well. "I will, and trust us Mr Motou; I will contact you if the slightest change occurs."

Grandpa shook the doctor's hand, before he left the relative room. He went back to the children's ward for one more look at his alleged "grandson", before he left, and was standing out in the cooling breeze. He knew that Yugi was probably out still with his friends, so it would be best if he went back to the shop before his grandson did.

He made it to his car…in his condition, the grand specimen that he was. It had been the only way to transport all the toys without breaking his back. He opened the door and sat down in the driver's seat, started the car, listening to the engine start…a background noise to his thoughts.

What was this new mystery? Who was this youth that looked like a mirror image of his young grandson down to the Millennium Puzzle that lay curled up in his fingers? Was this some ploy by some great evil design to lure Yugi into a trap? If so, why did he discover it by accident? Why not some other way, like Pegasus, by raising the stakes and forcing Yugi to do whatever they wanted?

He followed the route home, almost automatically, the industrial landmarks made brief appearances as those and similar questions held most of his thinking in check.

A strange occurrence within a normal day… He came back as he saw the Game shop looming ahead and he went around the back to park safely. It was nice and quiet around the back of the shop, only delivery vans came around here, so the place seemed to hold a sheltered secret quality, which only increased the "impending" feeling he had. He hoped Yugi was home.

He opened the back door which led to the kitchen (there was a much larger door as well for deliveries), turning on the light as he entered. It was neat and tidy, and everything seemed very quiet. As he suspected, no one was home but him…he knew Yugi could be a while. He wanted to just wait until Yugi returned and tell him everything, but he knew that time should not be squandered, and if he kept busy, then Yugi would return in no time, so he sat down and began on the books for the shop.

It was many hours later, when he heard the cheery voice of his grandson entering the shop front. He looked down for the table, sheaves of bills, invoices, receipts and other bits of paper which to his old eyes seemed just meaningless. He pulled himself away from the tables, columns and sums, and let his pencil roll to the side.

He looked up when he heard the door open and Yugi stepped inside, Grandpa was relieved. Part of him had actually believed that it was his grandson in that bed, that maybe the nurse had been wrong about the time, and that motionless patient…

"Grandpa, was the hospital busy?" Yugi sat down on another chair, he was careful not to dislodge any of the paper from the tabletop, which was invisible under all the white. The Puzzle swung slightly brushing some pages that hung over the edge. Yugi gripped the Puzzle to make it stay in one spot near the centre of his chest.

Yugi's grandfather mentally woke up from the concerns, and looked at his grandson. He rewound the words, and replied. "Not really, but there was something strange, which I think may involve you Yugi."

Yugi leaned forward. "Really?" Grandpa saw a faint trace of confusion on the young face, which may very well increase when the whole thing was explained in full.

How to explain this? His grandson was no stranger to weird and unusual, but that didn't make it easier. He decided to just say it.

"Today, as I was handing the stock, I discovered that there was someone in the hospital who was the exact image of you Yugi…exactly like you."

Yugi seemed to blink. "You mean like a twin." He spoke the words carefully, as if they were a plate that may shatter if he spoke too quickly.

Grandpa nodded. "He also had a…Puzzle. Just like yours."

Yugi now seemed stunned. His voice actually rose in pitch. "I thought there was only one Puzzle! There is only one isn't there?"

Yugi had always been so sure that the Puzzle was one of a kind. I mean, he had wondered how the Puzzle had been made and for what purpose, but he tried not to think of these things or voice them too often. After all Yami had no clues to why he was trapped inside it… they would find out together. Yami must have found this revelation just as dramatic as him.

Yami's voice mentally entered his head sounding as cool as always.

/Yugi, this could be some sort of trap. It seems too…strange, too well placed. /

/ If it was a trap for us, why was it Grandpa who discovered this person? After all if he hadn't been delivering those toys he would have never seen…him. Besides he says there's another Puzzle, I think we should check it out. /

/ Yugi, that alone should make us error on the side of caution. /

His Grandpa was unaware of the silent discussion. He was looking at his grandson, who seemed lost for words. He waited a few minutes, this was a huge shock, he was still recovering himself from the fear that his grandson could have been injured and he wouldn't have known…

He decided to voice an idea which he would have used, if Yugi had been more unconvinced of his story. "Would you like to see him for yourself? I convinced the doctor that he was you… for a while I thought he was. I'm sure they will understand that I got a bit confused when I bring you in."

Yugi raised his head up the little mental discussion ended. "I think I'd like to Grandpa." Even if this was a trap, if it could still tell him something about Yami's past that would help the ancient Pharaoh…it was worth going, of course he had to tell his friends too.

Grandpa seemed to read the thought. "Do you want to bring everyone with you?"

Yugi shook his head. "I would like to tell them, but I think it would be best if it was you and me first."

For some reason, he disliked the idea of his friends seeing this sleeping double, what would the person in the bed think if he knew a group of strangers were staring at him, like an exhibit in a zoo? It was disrespectful.

Yugi spoke again. "I think it would be best."

Plus if it was a trap, although Yugi didn't think a trap would be set in such a public place as a hospital, then his friends would be out of harm's way…and he was sure it would be easier with just the two of them, it would raise fewer questions, than if a huge group came.

His Grandpa's voice was quiet when he spoke. "When would you like to see him?"

Yugi replied almost without hesitation. "Can we go tomorrow, after school?" He looked at his grandpa; he knew that Grandpa was busy with the shop; it was highly unlike that they could go the very next day.

"We'll see Yugi."

Yugi smiled. "Thank you Grandpa." Grandpa returned the smile, and Yugi got up from the table and gave his grandfather a hug…after all, he must have been frightened at least for a moment when he saw "him" in that bed.

Dinner was started off with a really quiet feel, Yugi almost felt as if there was some sort of invisible barrier rising up. So Yugi asked which kind of puzzles and games he had sent, he mentioned a few that he had and still were favourites of his. Grandpa started mentioning the different puzzles and Yugi tried to remember how to solve each of them. He talked about the group of children that had started a duel around a bed. Yugi smiled, he wondered at a moment, if any of the children would have recognised this double, were they waiting for the "Duel Monsters Champion" to wake up?

/They may be in for a disappointment Yugi. /

/I don't know Yami, maybe he's a good duellist. Maybe we could even duel. /

What a strange idea, almost like having a duel with yourself…

The conversation broke off when Grandpa asked him what he had been doing all day. Yugi started by talking about the events in the park, the tough duel he had against Joey, he described the moves that Joey did, and the combinations he had made, and how Joey had almost won. He watched his grandpa smile and they both talked about how much Joey had improved. Yugi spoke of the duels between Joey, Tristan and Tea, and some of the interesting moves they had used.

Then he spoke of the arcade and how Joey had tried to win against all of the games. He had competed against all of them, and in the end the only game where he had had an all over win was against the basketball hoop, but you couldn't put Joey down for lack of trying.

Soon they were washing and placing dishes back inside the cupboards, Grandpa went back to the needed to be done paperwork, and Yugi went upstairs to finish off a piece of homework that he wanted to get out of the way. He felt as though he had just started when he looked at the clock, and noticed just how far the hands had moved. He finished the last sentence, with a weary kind of triumph. He closed the books, and placed the finished work in his bag for tomorrow…lest he forget. He yawned, covering his mouth, despite the fact he was technically alone. His bed seemed awfully inviting.

He changed into his pyjamas, brushed his teeth, and placed the Puzzle on the bedside table. He was about to lay his head on the pillow when he could see Yami sitting on the end of the bed, of course he wasn't really there. Yugi could still see everything "behind" Yami as well, but he was more focused on how Yami looked, the violet eyes stared off into space, the former ancient ruler looked concerned.

Yugi pushed himself up on his elbow. "Are you still worried about this…double of me?"

Yami blinked and it took a few moments for the far-away look to disappear from his countenance. "I feel that something big will happen if we go."

"As long as we work together, and get plenty of sleep. I'm sure we can deal with whatever comes our way…" Yugi's voice got quieter as he spoke until the ancient spirit realised that Yugi had slipped right off into sleep. He looked around the room for a moment, before he too vanished to rest within the magical confides of his Puzzle.

"Are you serious, Yugi?" That was the general outcry the next day from his friends during the break in-between classes. The group was surrounding Yugi's desk, the boys resting their heads on their arms, Tea merely staring at Yugi, all were surprised.

"I just can't believe it Yug, a person who looks exactly like you AND with a Puzzle too?" Joey's expression and tone was one of deep suspicion. "Sounds like something from the Twilight Zone."

Yugi nodded. "It does."

Tristan seemed to ponder over the idea. "Maybe this person is just a really devoted fan? You know you see them people at conventions, in costumes and make-up? Maybe this guy just really admired you Yugi."

Yugi sweat dropped. "That seems a bit extreme Tristan, but it would explain the appearance of a second Puzzle."

Joey seemed to consider the idea. "Hey I wonder if a Joey fan will appear. After all I am one of the best Duellists around."

The group had a sudden vision of a hall filled with people dressed like the confident blonde, and mimicking his "victory" poses.

Tristan poked Joey in the arm. "You may be great at duelling, just not great at anything else."

Joey playfully swiped at Tristan's head, but Tristan dodged it. "Hey, I was just having an off day yesterday."

Tristan smiled. "Yeah, every day is your" He did the quotation symbol with his fingers. "off day."

While Joey and Tristan did one of their routine fights with an interesting wrestling move that made Yugi, Tea and Ryou just stare at them for a long moment; Tea gave Yugi a concerned look. "Aren't you worried that this could be some sort of trap Yugi? It could be some sort of deception, like that time in Duellist Kingdom where you fought Kaiba's "ghost"."

Yugi nodded. "I know it could be a trap, but it could also reveal something about the Millennium Items and about the spirit of the Puzzle, the only way I'll find out is if I go and see."

Ryou nodded, his own Ring clear to see. "We need to learn all we can."

Tea was about to protest, when the teacher came in, and they had to return their chairs to their tables and learn, although after their conversation, it was hard for any of the friends to focus on the material at hand.

Yugi scribbled down notes automatically as the teacher read passages from the workbook, and drew diagrams on the blackboard to demonstrate what she was speaking in black and white pictures. He copied them down in a half minded way, the pictures and notes were probably going to be illegible when he looked back on them later in the day, but all he could think about was the visit, even if he didn't go today.

It seemed forever, but eventually the school bell rang signalling that classes were over for the day. Yugi gathered his books quickly into bag. His friends looked at him, and they gathered around his desk.

Joey was the first to speak. "So Yug, when are you going to see…yourself?"

Tristan butted in. "Because you're not going without us."

Yugi wondered how he could explain. "Guys, I would really like to visit him alone, please."

His friends all gave him long glances; he needed to say something that would make them feel better with the idea. "Just for the first time, then you guys can come to the next, I promise."

Yugi watched them consider it; Tristan was the first to reply. "Well, we can't stop you."

Tea glanced at Yugi with a powerful look. "Just be careful Yugi." Yugi quickly assured them that he would be with his Grandpa, he would be fine.

After he was sure they were reasonable happy, Ryou switched the subject, much to Yugi's relief. Whether they mentally decided it or not, the subject of homework was quickly raised with great enthusiasm, enough to show it was mostly artificial. Soon they had arrived at the Game shop and said goodbye.

Ryou was one of the last to go, but soon even he disappeared. Yugi went inside, said "hello" to his Grandpa, slipping his backpack to one shoulder rung and then eventually after he made it to the kitchen, he let it go onto the floor and under the table. He knew Grandpa had a few hours of work left before he could close shop.

Yami suggested he start the homework, while the discussion with his friends was still fresh. Yugi sighed; he knew the spirit was right, if he didn't start now, he probably never would, but he couldn't shake off the expectation feeling or stop himself thinking about other things. He wondered how Yami could stay so focused sometimes.

/Yugi, you're staring into space. /

Yugi blinked and realised, Yami was right. It was about two hours later, after staring at the books, instead of into space, when Grandpa coughed and told him that they could leave for the hospital now, if he wanted.

"That's great. Thank you Grandpa."

It didn't take them long to get in the car, and drive down to the hospital. Yugi didn't pay much attention to the sights; he was trying to prepare himself. His Grandpa stayed quiet, the only sound was the car radio. Soon the car came to a stop and Yugi realised that they were already at the hospital, the white building standing out compared to the brick houses across the road.

Yugi and Grandpa got into the hospital; Yugi watched the glass doors shut from behind his shoulder. There were a lot of people waiting, even though it was growing late in the day. Grandpa immediately went to the information desk, to inform the staff they had come to visit and to see if there was any new information about his "grandson".

Meanwhile, outside the hospital, Bakura had made it to the hospital grounds, he smiled. It had been a long walk, and he had been walking practically since he had parted from Yugi and the others outside the Game shop, taking control of Ryou's body with ease.

The idea of another Yugi and another Puzzle…it was far too tempting…especially for him. The moment he had heard of this guy, he could imagine him unconscious, no struggle, if this Puzzle was real, then it was a truly golden opportunity. He would wait until Yugi and his senile guardian left and then he would sneak in, with his power, the staff would be no problem and he would take that treasure.

Yugi was now walking down the corridor towards the ward where "he" was supposed to in. The nurses had been given him strange looks, but it didn't surprise him, since they probably assumed he was their patient. Grandpa had told him as they walked that, the patient had remained in a deep sleep the whole time he had arrived, Yugi was kind of relieved that he wouldn't have to talk to a complete stranger yet.

Unlike his Grandpa, he couldn't remember the time he had been in the very same ward, so he had no idea where to turn. He stopped when he felt his Grandpa direct him with a tap to the shoulder, when Yugi looked at him, Grandpa pointed to a set of large doors. Yugi felt a little embarrassed that he had almost passed them, when there was a sign right in front of him.

They walked through the doors without speaking; it would be rude if they had been and they had to consider the other patients, some would be trying to rest, and others would be with their own friends and family behind their own green curtains of privacy.

Grandpa was about to point out the bed, but Yugi didn't need it. It was the gold shine near the edge of the bed, and the lack of decoration that drew his eye. The curtain was bundled near the pillow; otherwise Yugi was sure that he would have recognised his own sleeping face immediately.

Yugi would have run over to the bed, but he remembered it was a hospital, and kept himself under control. He felt his Grandpa put a warm hand on his shoulder, as a silent sign of support and they walked over together.

When Yugi got to the bed side, it was almost as if he was having an out of body experience, except he knew that he was definitely standing next to the bed. He studied the sleeping face; it was eerie, so eerie, his gaze travelled down to the "Puzzle" that seemed to be discarded near him.

That golden item just made it more bizarre, if this truly was some fan, it showed they had taken an extreme that Yugi found uncomfortable, but if it was a real item, than that brought up a whole new concepts that made Yugi nervous on new levels.

Yugi reached down slowly and touched the "fake" Puzzle, the smooth metal, it felt real. He could feel the lines, which the pieces made too. It did seem so real… He wondered why the nurses hadn't removed it, someone could have stolen it. Yugi tried to lift it from the bed himself, but was surprised that the sleeping hand had a seemingly unbreakable grip, and decided to put it back down gently.

/ Well Yami/

/ I don't know how to say this Yugi, but I get this sensation that the Puzzle is as real as the one you wear. /

/ So more than one Puzzle was made/

/ … It appears so. /

The Spirit's voice seemed extremely doubtful. Yugi had the same unspoken doubt in his own mind. The Millennium Items seemed pretty unique; it seemed unlikely that more than one of any of them was made. For the first time Yugi wondered who created them, had Yami made them or was it someone else?

The pair stayed by the bed for ten minutes, just standing there, silent. Not knowing what to say to each other, Yugi pulled a strand of hair away from his face during that time, the silence seemed to have a volume of its own. The sounds of the gentle breathing and the dripping of the liquid in the intravenous tube seemed to have become far louder than they should, Yugi cocked his head as he heard the footsteps of the nurses from the corridor outside.

Eventually Grandpa shuffled his feet. "Yugi… I don't suppose you know anything about this boy?"

Yugi shook his head. "Sorry Grandpa, but I don't know anything about him."

Grandpa seemed to ponder this. "Whoever he is, we are now involved at least until he wakes up."

Yugi looked at "himself". "He hasn't woken up at all?" His grandfather shook his head to indicate it was so. "Why? What happened?"

"He was found unconscious and brought in with a fever, the doctors don't know much more than that. If he does wake up, I will be called"

Yugi turned to look at his grandfather. "So we can't do much else until he wakes up?"

Grandpa nodded his head in agreement. "I think we should go home now." This time it was Yugi that nodded, "I guess, you're right Grandpa." Yugi felt like he needed to have a breather and discuss this with Yami and his friends, before he could properly deal with this.

"Grandpa, weren't the nurses surprised to see their "patient" walking around?" It had been one of the scenarios that he had envisioned, and he was sure he had seen a few of the staff look at him with surprise.

Grandpa nodded. "The nurse did ask about you, but I just told her the truth. Even if they now know the truth, they have no other adult to inform until he wakes up and tells them."

They took one long look at the patient, before they took their leave. Yugi and Grandpa kept quiet again each lost in their own thoughts. Yugi could see the sky was growing darker, yet there was still evidence of the former pale blue sky. The air was cool and fresh, when they stepped out, which then changed to comfy warmth in the interior of the car.

As the car left the hospital car park, Bakura smiled to himself. It was about time those fools left, so he could find this fool where he slept and claim the prize. He walked through the sliding glass doors with confident strides. His hands in his pockets, giving him this steely image, that anyone who looked at him would sense. Bakura didn't waste time looking around, he immediately headed for the wards (as indicated by the large signs and arrows). He breezed right by reception, as if he had no need to report in. The nurses stationed there barely raised their heads without the reception bell to tell them a visitor was here.

He strolled past the nurses in corridors, dismissing them as part of the décor. It was a secret that if you act as if you know where you are going and carried the right attitude, you could go anywhere you liked. It took people's minds a while to realise you weren't suppose to be in a place if you acted like you did.

He watched the signs carefully, which was hard if you're trying to convey the image that you knew where you were. It was getting dark outside, and Bakura looked up as the florescent lights flickered into life, before continuing on. He had to find this unconscious kid, before nurses started doing their rounds and interfered with his business.

When he finally made it to the children's ward, which he assumed the boy would be in (because face it, Yugi and any person who looked like him would be considered a child, if a person didn't know better). He looked through the glass windows in each door, the ward seemed quiet. He couldn't see the one he was looking for from his position, but he was sure the boy would be easy to spot once he was inside.

He pushed the doors open without a thought. If any of the foolish patients or staff tried to interfere they would have fun in the shadow realm. Like Yugi before him, the golden shimmer of the "Puzzle" caught his attention immediately, like a glorious siren song. Bakura looked down at his Ring and was quite surprised to see no bloody reaction. He picked it up and aimed it at the Item that lay in the folds of the bed.

Nothing. Yet it was there and a thief as experienced as him, knew a real artefact when he saw it. So why was the Ring not drawn to it? With angry but silent strides he went to the foot at the bed. He gave the sleeping body a contemptuous grin; this boy looked so much like the Pharaoh and Yugi. It was almost as if the thief's dream of placing them into a sleep from which they could not awake had come true.

Bakura reached down, and picked up the golden Puzzle, looking at its shine and his reflection on its surface. He smiled again. He knew that this boy wouldn't fight and even if he could would be no match to his power.

"I'll hold onto this." He said leaning close to the boy's ear. "You won't be needing it."

As he tried to take the Item, he noticed the fingers that were curled in a death grip as if for the first time. This was too easy, he thought as he tugged hard, harder than any person who was concerned for the boy would. The Puzzle came free, but the force Bakura was using forced him back a few steps as he tried to regain his balance. He held up the Puzzle so he could practically see it reflected in his reflection's eyes. This had been easy.

He was about to leave, his treasure in tow, when something connected to the Puzzle pulled him to a halt, like an anchor. He tugged, thinking that it was merely the stupid bed had caught his Item somehow, and when tugging didn't work…He turned around to see what halted his get away.

A hand had wrapped the cord around itself preventing it from just being yanked away; Bakura found he was staring into dark ruby eyes, where he had been expecting violet. The patient wasn't sleeping anymore. He was sitting up, pulling back enough to halt Bakura going any further.

Bakura smiled despite the sudden hiccup in his plan, this kid may look like the Pharaoh but looks weren't everything. The boy had no idea what he was capable of. The pair held each other's gaze for a moment, as if trying to assess one another from mere appearance.

Softly the patient spoke as he did, his gaze never shifted from the spirit's face. _"Return that Item you stole from me. It is mine." _The voice had a strange lilt Bakura had never heard before.

Bakura looked down to the shiny Puzzle, as if he didn't even know it was in his hands. "You want this?" The boy remained silent, and did not take the bait. "Sorry, but possession is nine tenths of ownership, so this belongs to me."

The hand holding the cord remained tight. _"According to you, I still hold the last tenth. If you truly want my Item as your own, you must earn it."_

"Why should I? You can't do anything not like that…although now you've seen me. I will have to deal with you." The spirit's hair and eyes took a very demonic shape, a dark smile danced on his lips.

Without letting go of the cord, the boy pulled his other hand free of the bed, and soon he was standing on the hospital floor in his bare feet. The hospital gown ended just above the ankles. He had barely made a sound as he used his hand to secure his balance by holding onto the bed.

A small knowing smile of his own came to the boy's face, despite the fact that some of the yellow hair fell and obscured his vision, he remained as he was. He couldn't move the hair with his spare hand. _"If you wish to "deal" with me and gain my Item as yours at the same time, I suggest we play…a Game."_

Bakura had to suppress a laugh. "A game? All right, I'll play." This was too perfect, the fool would end up in the shadow realm, and he would get a Puzzle. He almost felt sorry to take advantage of the guy, almost…

"_Very well, let's play this Yami no Game." _

Yami no Game, what the hell was that? Bakura thought. Bakura glanced down briefly as he felt a strange pulse from the Puzzle in his hands. The next second, the Puzzle had vanished from his hands. He looked around and then noticed it hanging from the middle of the room, tied to a light fixture, the other end tied to the huge golden hoop, it twisted gently as it hung.

Bakura blinked. How the hell did it get over there? Angry, he started to walk towards it, but he became aware of a sudden beeping sound on his arm. He looked down and noticed a small watch with a number on it.

"Where did this come from?" He stared at the watch; it was dark blue around the small screen and strap, although now he was looking at the small LCD screen, if it was a watch it didn't seem to be keeping time, even as he looked the number kept changing.

"_This is all part of the Game." _He turned to see the boy still standing next to the bed. Bakura could clearly see an identical watch on the boy's right wrist. His watch was dark red instead of dark blue of Bakura's watch.

"_These watches are measuring our heart beats."_

"Where the hell did they come from? And how the hell did you grab the Puzzle without me seeing you?" The loser's small smile was starting to infuriate the robber.

"_That is not important, I thought the Puzzle was."_

Bakura found himself almost shouting at this Pharaoh wannabe. "Shut up! And explain your pathetic game!"

"_These watches measure the speed of our hearts. Each person's heart is slightly different depending on age, health and other factors. For us, our hearts can beat normally from sixty to hundred beats per minutes." _ Bakura's eyes shone with impatience. _"If you wish to win my Puzzle, you must make my heart rate high enough to make my watch buzz; I win if I do the same to you."_

Bakura looked down as his watch. This was a stupid game, but he wanted to own this puzzle, he needed to do this. He looked down at himself to see if anything else had changed, and he realised his clothes had become a gown just like the boy's. He was furious!

"Why the hell am I wearing this stupid gown!"

"_Because after the game; you may be the one that has to stay in hospital." _ The spirit was running out of tolerance for this fool, which was a rare commodity in the first place.

He also noted that the number on his opponent's watch was higher.

"Why the hell is your stupid number, higher than mine?" The boy seemed to blink as if in surprise. He placed his hand to his chin perhaps in thought.

"_Let's see…I'm wearing a gown… I have a tube in my arm, could it be because I am sick? Don't worry it won't affect our little game, the amount for us both is the same. Are you ready to play?"_

Bakura nodded. The moment this "game" started. He would summon a duel monster and frighten this fool back into his stupid coma or whatever and get out of this gown.

"_Game Start!"_

Bakura pulled out his duel monster deck, and drew out one of his favourite creatures. The Man eater bug, it was a weak card that these days he rarely used in an official duel, but for this frail kid, it was ideal.

"Man Eater Bug!" His card glowed, and standing before the patient, almost twice his height was the monster. Its knees were bent, but it was still tall even in a crouch, if it stood straight the two horns tips would probably stroke the ceiling. The boy had to blink his eyes a lot, as the monster's breath kept hitting him in the face. He could see the rows and rows of small but very sharp teeth, and the three claws that seemed to make each hand. Its body had a ghostly quality, yet in many ways it was definitely in the real world.

Bakura chuckled as his monster advanced. That watch was bound to beep anytime now, that idiot was probably going to have a heart attack while he was eaten by his beast. He tried to see his opponent's watch; he could imagine the numbers getting higher and higher. Suddenly he noticed his own watch was climbing, his excitement at the idea of sealing another soul in the shadows and claim that treasure was making his heart race.

He tried to quell his feelings to keep his heart rate low, but he grew angry when he saw that the red watch was barely going up, how the hell can the boy not be scared?

He could see the boy's impertinent smile, as he looked at him, ignoring his Man Eater Bug altogether.

"_Are you quite done with your monster? It isn't Halloween."_

Bakura felt his fists tighten. "You won't sound so cocky, when he shows you why he is called "Man Eater"!"

"_You're right; your monster could kill me in one blow. Please spare my life…I'll give you all this treasure if you do."_

The kid pointed to a spot behind Bakura. Bakura turned, and suddenly his vision became golden. There were gold coins, goblets, silver plates, and other glorious gems. Bakura knew a king's ransom when he saw it; this could be five kings' ransoms.

His whole body trembled at the idea of the wealth, he was aware of a tiny noise, but he was too distracted by the trove to notice it. He reached out to grab some of the valuable cool metal only to have it vanish before his fingers could stroke the surface of the coins.

Bakura turned back to the boy, whose countenance was one of victory, his monster had vanished, but he wanted to know something else. "Where'd the treasure go?"

"_Didn't you notice something?" _The boy pointed at his watch. Bakura looked at it; a small pair of bells was in the left corner of the LCD screen, indicating…

"_When you saw my "treasure", your heart raced, and in that moment of greed you lost. I win the Game, and my Puzzle belongs to me just like before."_

Bakura finally lost it; if he had to he would punch the kid and steal that treasure, it was the same as his old plan with a little added violence. He looked at the kid, he couldn't move away from his bed, so he wouldn't be able to stop him snatching the Puzzle.

He gave the confident kid a smirk, as he suddenly made a run for the suspended Puzzle. "Sorry, but I'm a sore loser!"

He made it to the Puzzle, and almost touched the gleaming surface, when something wrapped around him. It was tight, it pinned his arms and legs together, and with a great deal of effort he turned his head.

He was bound in bed sheets. The boy's eyes were literally glowing red. _"It's about time you faced your Penalty, thief." _ Bakura struggled as the living bed sheets dragged him into an empty hospital bed, with a snugness yet immovability that only a straitjacket had.

The tomb robber continued to struggle within his man made cocoon, as he watched the boy walk towards the Puzzle, in careful deliberate steps, as if trying to make sure the ground was solid enough to step on. He got angrier, as he watched the boy untie it from its hanging position. He managed to get his mouth free of the stifling cloth.

"Give me that! It's mine!" He struggled against the pillow and twisted to see what the freak was doing. "Who the hell are you?"

His oppressive opponent walked up to him, the Puzzle glowed in his hands, his face hidden in shadows cast by the light. _"My name is Yami no Yuugi." _He turned away from Bakura, disappearing from the spirit's line of sight. _"I hope you enjoy your stay…"_

"_Game Over!"_


	3. Doppelgangers and evil twins?

Aitwo: Welcome one and all to my third chapter. I know it's been a while since I updated. For all the people that have been who have been reading up to this point, thank you very much hang with me, I promise this story is going places.

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Light was shining hard against the hospital curtains, but it barely made it through the thick material. Most of the patients were still sleeping when the nurse did his rounds and found an unregistered patient sleeping in one of the spare beds. The nurse looked for a chart just in case a patient had been added before his shift, but he didn't find one. The teenager wasn't even connected to any of the blank machines.

The nurse could see a set of clothes and a piece of weird jewellery neatly folded on the inner shelf of the hospital table, and a set of worn trainers were also set neatly at the side. He was wearing a hospital gown, but they were easy to get. He had another look for the chart, but it should have been in plain sight at the foot of the bed, so it was certain that the guy had not been signed in.

"Hey!"

The nurse's voice was understandable angry, this was a hospital, not a shelter, and the guy looked perfectly healthy. The guy moved a little, turning over in the bed as if he was in his own room, before the nurses insistent calls made him open his eyes.

Ryou saw a complete stranger looking at him, and he nearly jumped right out of his skin. He then realised he wasn't in his home, or in his bed, which was almost as disturbing as having some looking at you as you sleep without you even knowing it.

He sat up, a mostly shock reaction as he began to realise he was not even in his own clothes. He turned his head to the sides to see curtains and beds… the smell of cleaner in the air.

"I'm in hospital?" Ryou was basically saying this aloud for his own benefit in one small breath.

What was he doing in a hospital? What had the spirit been doing? Had it possessed him and injured him? He felt down his body, checking for anything that had changed… he sighed when he was sure everything was where it should be.

"What are you doing in here? You are not a patient." Ryou looked at that person that had spoken; he was wearing a blue shirt, a name tag and a sewn badge that indicated he worked here. How could he explain that he had no idea what he was doing here without sounding crazy? Normally he woke up in his own bed, why not this time?

Ryou realises that any words he said would be pretty pointless and he pulled the covers off the bed, so he could quickly get out and find his own things. The nurse continued to ask his questions, but then Ryou noticed his shoes and that drew his eyes to his folded clothes.

Ryou: I'm sorry. I have to go.

He grabbed his clothes and his shoes; the floor was as cold and as smooth as ice against the balls of his bare feet. He was about to run out of the ward, make it back to his house and pretend this had never happened, when he saw a sleeping Yugi lying in an identical bed to the one he had woke up in.

This must be who Yugi was talking about, now he was worried. This could not be coincidence, he just got told about this by Yugi and the next minute he knew here he was. The spirit obviously had brought his body here to do something or had probably done something already. He had no time to pause and wonder he had to get out before he was caught. The nurse was already pressing a button to get someone's attention and they were bound to summon security.

As Ryou ran in the corridors he tried to avoid people but staff tried to talk and stop him since he looked so distressed and looked like a patient. He wished he wasn't wearing this gown, people automatically assumed he had to be in a bed or that he was looking for help.

"Are you okay? Are you lost or looking for someone?"

Ryou sighed as a female nurse saw him and was coming up to him. It was like he was stuck between a rock and hard place. He didn't understand this, normally he was one of those people that faded into the background, but stick him in a hospital, wearing the same clothes as hundreds of other people in the building and people couldn't get enough of him.

He tried to say something dismissive, so that the nurse wouldn't feel compelled to follow him around or lead him back to his room.

"I'm fine; I'm not lost or looking for someone. I'm just heading back to my room."

He hoped saying that would stop any follow up questions from the nurse. She smiled and said "okay" before telling him that she would be nearby if he needed help. He thanked her, despite the horrible feeling that the other nurse or security guards would spot him, and went past her. It was amazing how much people wanted to pay attention to him, when it was the last thing he wanted.

He had to find somewhere to change his clothes and then he could sneak out. His answer came to him, when he saw the restrooms. He ran in and changed inside a cubicle.

He rushed, he didn't have time to be neat, it just mattered that he looked tidy enough to pass for someone who was just leaving. This was hard, as he struggled to put his trousers on, inside a small room where there was hardly enough room to stand in and no mirror. He pulled his shirt over his head and attempted to sort out the collar as best he could. The Ring he slung around his neck, but hid it under his shirt. He would have placed it into his trouser pocket, but the gold could be seen and draw attention, and he was going to be running and he couldn't risk losing it.

He hid the gown within the small bin next to the toilet; nothing would draw a person's eye than a gown grasped in his fist. He knew it would be discovered, but he couldn't think of much on the spot. It was times like this, that he wished the dark spirit in his Ring would deal with things, but then…people were bound to get hurt, including his friends.

As he thought this he slowly slipped out of the cubicle, and checked himself out in the mirror and quickly fixed anything that was too noticeable. Sadly his white hair was something that could not be hidden. He walked out just as someone else was entering and headed for the exit as indicated by the signs of his head. Every time a voice yelled something, or he heard fast moving steps, his heart jumped in his chest, until he was finally outside.

It wasn't until Ryou had made it out of the parking lot and the hospital was far out of his sight, that he was able to breathe again. He took a few moments to compose himself and then he checked his watch out of habit. It took him a couple of seconds for him to work out it had been strapped on upside down in his hurry to get out, he mentally reversed the numbers it was eleven o'clock! He was late for school!

He immediately began to run, he had to make it to school, and he couldn't be late again! No, no, no, he wasn't going to let the Ring prevent him from getting an education. He continued to run down the streets. People actually stopped to look at the white haired teen who was acting more like the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, as he passed them by.

"I ran all the way here." Ryou finished explaining to the gang. It was many hours after his adventure in the hospital. He had finally reached the school after a long run, but he had immediately been caught and sent to the teachers' lounge. He had spent the rest of the day, attempting to explain why he was so late. He knew he could never tell them the whole truth, that he had been temporarily possessed by a dark Egyptian spirit and had no memory of what he had been or what he had done. In the end he blamed his lateness on a combination of sleeping in and missing buses…but that could only go so far and the teachers were not impressed.

It was hard to listen to the teachers' comments, about his tardiness and his feeble excuses that he made to explain them. Normally a student's parents would be called in, the teachers would tell them all their grievances, what the student was failing or their bad behaviour and then it was up to the parents to tell their child in their own way. Ryou had no such luxury, and he had to take all the harsh comments about his suffering grades, his lateness and how much better he could do directly. He had to sit with one teacher after another, until he heard all they had to say, then as a final blow he was given all the assignments from the classes he had missed that day and they were extra long. What made it worse was the knowledge that it wasn't his fault that he was late, and he could never say it.

Ryou had been finally released, spending his last few moments of school starting some of the assignments, when the gang found him and he had told them as much as he could remember which was not a lot. The group was kind of quiet for a moment, not quite sure what to say after all the Spirit of the Ring had done to Ryou and the amount of weird things he had done when controlling Ryou's body this was not the strangest.

"We're glad you weren't hurt." Tea said with a concerned smile on her face. The group nodded, as she continued. "And we can help you work through that extra work." Tristan, Joey and Yugi were all about to nod, when Tristan and Joey seemed to listen to what had just been said. The two spoke in union.

"What?"

Tea went up to them, with a scolding expression. "As friends we should help him."

Joey looked at her with a pleading expression of his own. "But we have our own work…"

"Then we can do all of it together." The two boys seemed to be completely defenceless against the argument as Yugi listened to their flustered excuses, which he knew, would not work and eventually they would cave in, Yami spoke.

/ Yugi, Ryou saw that double of you, he was even in the same room. /

/ Do you think Bakura was trying to do something/

/ Yes, and by the sound of Ryou's account, he may have failed; however I think we should go back there. /

/ To see if this sleeping "me" is okay/

/ That and if Bakura did fail, to find out what made him fail. /

Yugi mentally nodded. / Right. /

He relayed the gist of the conversation back to the gang. Joey and Tristan looked hopeful and immediately agreed to the idea of going to the hospital, what a shame that doing such an activity would take them away from their studies. Tea was immediately concerned about the stranger as well, and the two made thumbs up to each other out of her sight.

They agreed to meet up at the Game Shop in three hours, Joey and Tristan went all depressed all of a sudden, as they realised that this was time for them to catch up with assignments, and if they at least didn't start they would be lectured by their human conscience (Tea). Yugi, Tea and Ryou smiled at their faces.

It was three hours later; Yugi had nearly finished his maths problems and was confident that he could finish the rest the next day. He knew that the others would be arriving any minute and his Grandpa would be driving them to the hospital. Yugi had expected his Grandpa to be annoyed when he asked him at such short notice and explained why. Instead his Grandpa had seemed extremely enthusiastic, determined to solve the puzzle of the second "grandson". Yugi could have sworn his grandfather had fire around him, and in the end tried to convince him to calm down afraid that he would become too excited.

The bell rang, and Yuugi opened the door to see his friends all waiting to go, the exception was Ryou. After they had made the plans, he said that he would prefer to stay home and catch up on all his work and that he would call Tea's mobile to see how things were going later. The gang could also tell that Ryou feared that if he went, the Spirit Bakura might attempt something while they were there or that the staff at the hospital would recognise him.

"Hi guys. Grandpa is just getting the car ready."

Joey and Tristan wore slightly distasteful looks; the car in question was quite old and small. To them it was like they were the tuna and the car was the can…very little room.

Yugi shut the door behind him and locked it; his grandpa was coming from the back. The gang watched the car, as Grandpa pulled up. He greeted them from the driver's seat. They looked at the available seats.

"One of you guys should go in the front, there's more room." Yugi pointed out. "I'll be fine in the back."

The three shook their heads. Tea spoke first. "You should sit up front with your grandpa. You don't want to be in the back with these two." The two boys glowered at her.

"What's that suppose to mean Tea?" Joey said, and Tristan also added in a "Yeah, you got a problem sitting with us?" Tea sweatdropped and tried to salvage what she said.

"You guys are too big, with Yugi in-between you both. You'd crush him."

The three got this sudden mental picture of the car turning a corner and Yugi suddenly being turned into a "Joey and Tristan sandwich with a Yugi Motou filling". Suddenly Tristan and Joey immediately changed their minds. Yugi seemed a little depressed at the "crushed" comment, but he definitely didn't want to end up like the scenario and eventually they climbed in with Yugi at the front.

Joey squeezed himself forward to speak to Yugi's grandpa as he drove. "So Grandpa, does this guy really look like Yugi?"

"Down to the last strand of hair." Grandpa replied. "He must be a long lost family relative."

That comment made the three in the back quiet and thoughtful. Joey was wondering if this strange Yugi was maybe some kind of evil twin like in the late night movies. Tea was wondering if the person had the same personality as Yugi or if he was completely different. Tristan would have been thinking similar things, but his thoughts were more on trying to breathe since he was stuck in-between Joey and Tea.

In some ways the idea of a lost relative had an almost normal feel to it, when you compared that to their past adventures involving life threatening situations and ancient Egyptian magic.

And that was how they arrived at the hospital, quiet and thoughtful. Most of them went up to the reception so they could make an enquiry of the patient, Joey on the other hand, headed for the candy machines; Tristan was of a similar mind. Yugi and Tea intended to stay with Grandpa, but suddenly heard a shout and the sound of something heavy being kicked.

"I think the machine has stolen Joey's money." Tea said, with a "the two doofuses are at it again" smile. Yugi nodded and smiled as well, when it came to duelling and food Joey was relentless.

"We'll be right back Grandpa" Yugi said quickly before leaving the reception counter where they were standing. The two immediately went to see what exactly Joey was doing that was doing (not that they couldn't guess).

"All right Yugi." Grandpa said, as he turned to speak to the nurse at the counter for any news on the sleeping boy. After mentioning the room and his own name since he had made himself responsible for the boy until he woke, the nurse told him an update. The boy was still sleeping, that didn't surprise him if he had woke the hospital would have called him, but his fever was down and he should wake up soon. They had contacted the police in case the boy had matched any missing person report, but there had been nothing... He thanked the nurse and asked if it was okay to have visitors.

Meanwhile, Tea and Yugi had gone back to where they had passed some candy machines, the two sweatdropped as they found Joey on his hands and knees, one arm was stuck through the slot where the person could take their candy reaching up towards the hanging confectionary in vain. One lone candy bar was seemed to be dangling and was almost loose.

"Kick it again Tristan! I think I almost have it!" His fingers tempted to stretch up at the bar, but despite all of his willpower his fingers were just not close enough to snatch it and they weren't going to grow fast enough in a few minutes.

Tea couldn't help blurting out. "What are you two doing!"

Tristan's head appeared from the side of the machine. "The machine didn't give Joey his candy bar, but he doesn't have enough money to get another one."

Joey scowled at Tristan. "And he won't even loan me any!"

"You already owe me for the last batch of burgers we ate." The lone-spiked teen countered.

"So you're kicking the machine, and hoping you'll get a" Tea held up one finger as she spoke. "One candy bar?"

"Don't be stupid Tea, not just mine. Anything that shakes free too. Tristan and I are splitting it 50/50." He looks at their faces. "Okay, I'll give you and Yugi one each, if we get a big haul."

Yugi sweatdropped and spoke with a slightly nervous tone. "Thanks Joey…"

"Well come on." Grandpa found the group, and didn't even seem to find the picture of Joey clawing for a candy bar strange, boys will be boys, and Joey will be Joey. He gestured for them to come on. "We can go and see him now I've checked everything."

Joey was literally in tears. "But what about my candy bar?"

Yugi sighed. "I'll get you two later Joey."

Joey immediately removed his arm from the machine at the promise, as they were walking away; the candy bar fell with a silent thump. Tristan as the last to pass pulled out the bar and when he met up with the group was breaking the wrapper off it.

"Hey Tristan, that's my candy bar!"

"Finders keepers Joe."

Joey literally tried to attack his friend to get the sweet. "Give it!" Yugi and Tea had to keep hold back. Tea eventually snatched the bar from Tristan and being the peacemaker she was, split the bar in two, and handed them each one half. Joey took it, but remained a little sullen from the loss.

It was sort of a good thing; it meant that when they entered the ward, the group was quiet. They walked over to the bed, and Tea, Tristan and Joey got their first glimpses. Yugi and Grandpa had to stop laughing at their wide eyes at seeing an identical version of Yugi lying in a bed.

"Y-you got to be kidding me!"

Tea put her hand around Joey's mouth. She whispered in his ear as if it would undo his loud out burst. "Joey this is a hospital. You got to keep quiet."

"Mmmmm...Mmm!"

Tea blinked. "What did you say?"

Tristan then spoke. "He said "It's way too freaky!" Joey nodded.

Tea sweatdropped and removed her hand from Joey's mouth. "I have no idea how you knew that, but you don't want to wake him up, do you?"

Joey took a breath, before speaking. "He looks just like Yug, even if it was like a costume, it's too good!"

"I don't think it's a costume Joey." Yugi said quietly.

It was then that Grandpa spoke. "It seems this young boy is family." The group turned, blinking at him like fish. "They took some blood and did a DNA test. I offered some of my blood."

Tea placed a finger to her chin. "Isn't that a bit strange? Not just him being family, I mean, taking your blood."

"He had no one responsible for him and I was worried that it could really be my grandson lying here."

Yugi walked right up to the double of himself. He looking at him closely he noticed some differences. "His Puzzle, it's round his neck now, not in his hand. He also looks better than before."

Grandpa noticed the change in the Puzzle's position too. "The nurse said his fever was gone, that he could wake up soon…maybe the nurses moved it back around his neck?"

Joey went up behind them, looking at the sleeping "Yugi" through the gap created by their shoulders. "I wonder if that is a fake, you know made with some cheap metal, which is then covered in gold?"

"I don't know Joey." Yugi replied. "I think it's real…"

Joey moved so he was close and then reached out to touch the other Puzzle. Yugi immediately noticed this and told Joey to stop, that it wasn't right to touch someone's things when they are asleep.

"Relax Yug; I just want to see if it's real." His fingers touched the raised Eye in the centre, and he was just about to lift it off the chest, when he found a hand gripping his wrist. He froze; the group froze with him, because no one had seen the motion happen.

Joey was frightened even more, when he noticed that the eyes of Yugi's doppelganger were open slightly, crimson red eyes, slightly dazed with sleep.

"_Don't…touch my… Puzzle."_

The sound of the sleepy accented voice made Joey yell. "WAH!" This made everyone else yell as well.

What happened next was that the nurse attending had to come in and told them off for disturbing the others in the room and wanted to know what was going on. She probably would have jumped herself when she saw the sleeping patient now awake and looking at her with unnatural coloured eyes.

After a few minutes, chairs had been gathered around the bed; a doctor had taken a look at the conscious patient (even though the boy would not be separated from his Puzzle at any part of it) and pronounced him healthy. The group were now sitting on the chairs watching him as he was sitting up and eating a hospital meal that had been brought to him (since he hadn't really eaten since arriving).

The group and patient looked at the food. It was colourful, one huge red section, a green section and a brown section. The gang mentally tried to guess what each thing was suppose to be, and was the boy suppose to use a fork or a straw to eat it.

The red eyed "Yugi" prodded the food, the large red section seemed to be the main course, upon investigate found small pale pasta pieces, hiding under… sauce?

He looked at them with his red eyes, and swallowed a few mouthfuls because no matter how it looked he was still hungry, before speaking in a calm tone. _"…Who are you?" _

Yugi was in the closest chair and replied. "Um… we're kind of friends…we've never met, but we…" His voice trailed off, as he tried to think of an explaination as to why a bunch of strangers would be interested in them.

It was Grandpa that summed it up. "My grandson He pointed to Yugi and I are your relatives. These pointing to Tea, Tristan and Joey (who was the furthest away because he was still freaked) are his friends."

Tea and Tristan each introduced themselves and said their hellos, while Joey kind of remained quiet. His theory that there was an evil Yugi had been confirmed.

"The quiet one is Joey. He was just a little scared with how you grabbed him." Tea said with a smile, trying to be friendly.

Joey gave her with a dark look. "I was not scared!"

"Then why did you make a scream like a little girl?" Tristan looked at him.

Joey grabbed Tristan from his chair. "I'll show you who screamed like a girl"

Yugi watched the fight with a huge sweatdrop, before turning back to his double. "So what's your name?"

"_My name is Yami no Yuugi."_

Yami no Yuugi suddenly realised that they were all staring at him. _"Did I say something wrong?"_

"No you didn't. It's just my name is Yugi too." Yugi said. He silently thought to himself that "Yami" was also one of the titles that Yami had told him and the one he tended to use to address him apart from "Pharaoh".

"_For some reason, that does not surprise me." _Yami no Yuugi looked at Yugi and gave him a small smile, but Yugi could tell it was a nervous one.

They let Yami no Yuugi finish his meal, before they started to ask him questions. It was Tea that asked most of them, where are you from, how old are you, are you staying with friends nearby? The atmosphere grew sadder as the young crimson eyed "Yugi" averted his eyes and said he could not remember.

It was Grandpa who attempted to comfort him by patting him on the back. "It's okay we won't ask you any more personal questions for now. The doctor said you can be discharged today. Would you like to live with us, until you get your memory back?"

Yami no Yuugi looked at him relieved, as if some frightening void had been taken away. _"That is so kind of you, are you sure that it's all right, I am a complete stranger…"_

"You're family and we have plenty of room."

Yugi nodded. "We'd be happy to have you stay with us."

Yami no Yuugi smiled at him, in a way that reminded the others of Yugi._ "Thank you." _

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	4. Whole new world

Welcome to the fourth chapter of the fic, thanks to everyone who has read it so far and everyone who will read it. My goal is to get 100 hits! Please help me with this goal, and give me lots of reviews!

Again, this fic would not be possible without the help of my friend Sakura (author of Baby Blues) who constantly looks it over before it comes to you readers and my friend and loyal reader CT. Thanks guys!

Tabula Rasa Chapter 4

Yami no Yuugi watched the landscape passing by through the car window. He tried to see as much of the strange place as he could. The car made everything seem like a series of pictures, a flickering ever changing slideshow. Every time Yami no Yuugi saw something, he wondered had he been there? Had he sat on that bench? Had he brought a can of soda from that shop, or leaned down to tie his shoes under that tree? He scanned each faces he could see, hoping to see the face of a person he knew. The smallest thing could hold the vital clue in needed to open what seemed like locked doors in his memories, so he took in all that he could. His eyes leapt from curb, to store, to every plant, person, street sign and store.

He also couldn't help but notice his own transparent reflection in the window glass. It was the first time he had seen "him", the "him" everyone else saw. Was it unnatural to think of your own appearance as "strange"? Can someone have black and gold hair naturally and that's not even considering the purple at the tips? Before he had lost his memory, had he dyed his hair every morning, did he think it made himself look cool?

If it was he had been on his own, the first thing he would have done was brush his hands through the tips to see if they felt real. He would have stared into his eyes, looking for some hint to who he was. As he looked at his face, he studied the curve of his cheek to the solemn half-smile. So this was him? This was "Yami no Yuugi", whoever that was… he had to admit he liked how he looked. It seemed mysterious, cool, although he had to wonder did he mix with dangerous elements. He had this uneasy mental image of riding on a motorcycle, knocking over things with some kind of crew, maybe he had been that kind of person? He could remember hearing that people with memory loss could act completely different from how they were before, it would be nice he thought with a touch of sarcasm, to remember where he had heard that.

Despite all that had happened so far to him, the part that shocked him most out of it all was meeting someone who seemed to have the same exact face and have this person find him first… of course they did seem to vary, but it gave him mental shivers never the less.

The clothes he wore he had thought at the beginning would hold some clues to who he was and where he had been. When they were handed to him, the first thing he had noticed about them was that they were all black (apart from the white collared shirt). They had no designer label on the outside or inside, no patterns of any kind. He looked through the pockets of the black jacket to find nothing. He had discovered a faint odour to them, but "Grandpa" (as he insisted he be called) had told him he had been found near garbage, so he dismissed that as a clue, although he did want to see where he had been found if he could.

His hand was still wrapped, cut up by glass as he had lain there, but he could not remember it happening, no doubt it would heal. His wounded hand tightened automatically at the thought around the bandage as he thought about it, and he winced as he felt a deep sharp sting in the palm of his hand. He rubbed the bandage with the thumb on his other hand as he continued to gaze outside.

He was sitting at the end of the row of car seats, the tall one called Tristan was closest to him, and while the blond one called Joey was at the opposite side of the car keeping his distance from him. It was a tight fit, and because of that the car was warm. Yami no Yuugi was becoming increasingly aware of this quiet self imposed feeling that had formed within the car. He also knew that he was the source of the disquiet, and knew he had to break it.

"_So where do you live Yugi?"_

Yugi turned his head slightly to look at Yami no Yuugi. "I have a feeling you'll like the place Yami no Yuugi. My Grandpa and I live in a Game shop."

"_A Game shop…" _

A shop? Yami no Yuugi thought as he went back to gazing outside with a thoughtful stare, a game shop that sounded familiar. He wondered what kind of games there were…

Tea watched Yami no Yuugi, he seemed to be staring off to the world outside, and his eyes flickered as the scenery changed but for the most part he did not seem to be completely there anymore. Tea nearly kicked herself for thinking that, of course he wasn't there, and he didn't even know who he was or why he had ended up in the hospital. She felt horribly guilty for thinking such a thing, even though she hadn't said it out loud, so she started to speak to get rid of the feeling.

"It's a shame we can't stay and help Yami no Yuugi get settled in at your place Yugi."

"It does seem a shame that you've had school on the Sunday and still have to go Monday." Grandpa added his view.

Joey and Tristan went into poses of people in mourning. "Sunday, we hardly knew ye!"

"Well, all our marks are slipping we need to take the extra classes to keep up with everyone else. "Saving the world" every week is affecting our grades, so you have to sacrifice a Sunday or two. You can't exactly put it on a college application." Joey and Tristan rolled their eyes. Both felt since they had helped save the world from the threats of evil magic, they were entitled to have their Sundays.

Yami no Yuugi blinked at that comment. _"Saving the world?" _

The whole group in the car sweatdropped, as Yami no Yuugi looked at the group, with a curious light in his eyes. It was Tea who tried to wave it away. "It's a just little joke." Her face was frozen into a smile as she realised her mistake, he may look like Yugi; I doubt he'll believe in magic.

"_Oh…I see." _

"So where is Yami no Yuugi going to sleep?" Tea hoped her changing the subject would go unnoticed.

Yugi smiled. "Don't worry Tea; Grandpa has a guest room, which should be fine."

"Yug, you shouldn't be so trusting all the time. You can tell he's up to no good!"

Tea frowned as she looked at Joey. "Joey, he's sitting right there."

Tristan also leaned forward, to look at his pal in a low whisper. "And what do you expect him to do anyway?"

Joey seemed to go into his own daydream, as he pictured this fake "Yugi" tying up his friend and his grandpa up and putting them in the basement, and taking over his life. He didn't notice Tristan waving a hand in front of his face.

"Er…Joey? Hey! JOEEEY!" He snapped his fingers to bring him back. "Earth to Joey! Come in Joey!"

"What Tristan? I was thinking?" Joey swatted away the fingers hovering in front of his face. His friend smirked and countered with a "Did that hurt? We're back at the shop Einstein."

Joey stepped out with the others. He could see the fake Yugi staring at the Game shop. Tea and Tristan were saying their goodbyes to Yugi and the fake one, Joey followed their example but he did cast glances back as he watched Yugi's grandpa invite Yami no Yuugi into the shop.

Yami no Yuugi looked at the shelves, games of every shape, size and colour stared back of him. His fingers itched, when he noticed a jumbled up rubix cube, a version he somehow knew was called the "Professor Cube", since it was bigger with more squares than the well-known one. Before he even realised what he was doing, he had picked up one of the huge cubes. His fingers spread out along one side, feeling the cool smoothness and the indents for each individual coloured squares. He twisted part of the cube, enjoying the way it moved in a fluid motion with a click. He continued to twist and turn making bizarre patterns like a kaleidoscope. He felt a deep satisfaction when he completed it showing each side was one block of the same colour.

He then noticed something else and the completed cube was left forgotten on the side with the other jumbled ones. He discovered yoyos, a small amount of tape kept the string inside the circular part. He undid the tape and placed a finger through the looped end. He flicked his wrist and watched the yoyo spin at the end of the string. He pulled it back and then released it again to his side so it spun again, swung the yoyo so it went all the way to his other shoulder, before making it return to his hand. He knew he was in a small space and performing tricks was risky, unless he wanted to end up breaking a bunch of games before he could even look at them, but he had enjoyed the familiar feel of the yoyo in his hand.

Yami no Yuugi didn't notice the surprised faces of Grandpa and Yugi as he continued to survey the store. He picked up the small puzzles, as if they were gems, solving a few before seeing something new. He looked at jigsaw puzzle boxes, at other traditional games, like monopoly, cluedo and risk. He could see the strange types of dice, in dozens of shapes and colours; he took a scoop of them. He shook them in his hand; again he got the sense of the familiar again.

He looked at boxes containing chess sets, and a large novel version displayed to show the product. The pieces were already positioned to look like a mock game.

He could see tradable cards near the glass countered, some were in their own stands, the shine off the plastic made them seem all the more important. He didn't know what they were for but they were impressive and some looked familiar to him. For a second, he had an image of himself, holding cards…just like them. He went over to the cases, grasping at the image, and looking at the card seeking for the spark that had brought up such certainty. He noted the bright foil, and was about to pick it up… it was a damaged card with a picture of a white dragon, when he heard a voice.

"Yami no Yuugi, please don't touch that card, it's special to Grandpa!"

He turned to see Yugi smiling (with a sweatdrop above his head) at him; obviously his actions must have shown his interest in everything around him, perhaps he had overstepped his bounds?

"_Sorry…I didn't know."_

"That's okay Yami no Yuugi." Grandpa said, as he placed the dragon away. "Not just anyone can touch that card."

"I had a feeling that you liked games." Yugi said as he nodded at all the games Yami no Yuugi had touched, acting like a kid in a candy shop.

"My grandson and I love games, you obviously have Motou blood."

Yami no Yuugi felt strangely uncomfortable at those words, although he felt comfortable around them, they were still strangers. According to them they were related, but that didn't change the fact he knew nothing about them. The two seemed to sense his uneasiness, and Yugi's grandfather spoke.

"Yugi, how about you show Yami no Yuugi the guest room? You can show him around the shop in the morning."

"Sure." Yugi nodded his head. "Follow me Yami no Yuugi." Yami no Yuugi nodded and followed his strange but familiar living reflection. Yugi noticed that Yami no Yuugi's child-like excitement seemed to have zapped him of all his energy. He seemed a bit withdrawn. He almost felt like taking Yami no Yuugi's hand to guide him, but Yugi felt awkward about doing so.

As Yugi walked up the stairs, Yami began to speak. / He has my "name"… /

/ I know, do you think he's a spirit like you and has magical powers/

/ Yugi, if he was a spirit… you could pass your hand right through him. It is possible that he is residing within a body like I do with you, but… /

/ It's completely weird, isn't it? And this is coming from us. /

/ Yes. It is. He looks like us, shares both of our names, and a Puzzle. /

"_Are you okay Yugi? You're staring into space."_

Yugi blinked and looked at Yami no Yuugi as he stood waiting patiently in his black clothes; he looked like a Goth or someone waiting for a funeral. "I'm sorry, um...here." He couldn't help sweatdropping a little as he walked over to the door to the guest room and opened it for Yami no Yuugi to see inside. "This is your room."

He watched Yami no Yuugi step inside as he seemed to mentally appraise the room. It was simple and small. There was merely a bed, wardrobe and a side table with a lamp.

"_Is it really okay for me to sleep here? This room is just for me?"_

Yugi was surprised to hear the tone, Yami no Yuugi sounded as if he had been given a royal suite. "Sure it is." He decided to explain where things were on the landing to help avoid confusion. "That's grandpa's room." He then nodded to other doors. "That's the bathroom and the room at the bottom is mine. If you get lost, don't be afraid to ask."

Yami no Yuugi nodded. He then turned to Yugi. _"Would it be okay, if I rested for a little while?"_

"Oh sure. Sleep well."

Yami no Yuugi thanked him and he sat on the edge of the bed as if testing it. Yugi shut the door and yawned. Weariness seemed contagious; he went down and told his grandpa he was going to bed early. He was as mentally exhausted as he imagined his guest was, he changed and went to bed.

For some unknown reason Yugi woke up quite early in the night; his room seemed to have been painted in every shade of blue with the lack of light. He blinked, and took a look at the blinking LED lights of his alarm clock and groaned. It was way too early to be up especially with school in the morning.

He decided to get something to drink and then go right back to bed and claim as much remaining sleep as he could. He walked down the hall, and down the stairs, when he saw a bright light coming from the living room, and heard soft noises. He wondered if there was a burglar, but would one use the house lights?

He slowly opened the door; the bright electrical light blinded him for a moment, as he pushed it open.

"_Please don't push the door open any more, it will wreck it."_

Yugi blinked as he tried to understand the words, while half-asleep and blind. Wreck it? Wreck what? He stopped the door and slowly moved in, shutting it as he entered, he could see Yami no Yuugi in his white collared shirt and black trousers. He was crouching on the floor a small set of boxes on the side next to his bent legs, one was open. He seemed to be examining something near the carpet…

Yuugi seemed to finally wake up when he saw that all the furniture was against the walls to make a big space, the only thing left in place was the carpet. He was speechless, what was Yami no Yuugi thinking? What was he doing?

He moved to the sofa and sat on it, from this position he could see something designed along the floor. He stood up on the sofa cushions to see it better; the outer shape was made of a line of black and looked like a triangle. He couldn't make out what the rest of the design was.

He watched Yami no Yuugi, his face set in a mask of concentration as his hand reached into a box and pulled out a tiny black rectangle. It was only as he watched Yami no Yuugi stack it, that it all clicked. He was setting up dominoes; he had seen the huge competitions on TV sometimes. He knew the projects they had made had been much bigger and taken days to set up to form the eventual pictures when the chain reaction started. He wondered what the picture was of and how long Yami no Yuugi had been doing this?

Even though Yugi was tired and knew he had school in the morning, he found himself compelled to stay and watch as his guest continued to stack the dominoes. It took only a minute before Yami no Yuugi stood and moved the boxes that must have contained more dominoes out of the way.

"_Finished"_ Yami no Yuugi's face seemed excited, yet at the same time it was also so serious waiting for the moment when he could see if all his hard worked had paid off. He moved up to the left hand corner of the room and gently pushed over one domino.

There was this fast "rata rata" noise as hundreds of dominoes began to fall in fast succession. Yugi tried to follow the motion as they changed from upright to fallen, but eventually gave up as they crisscrossed paths. When it was finished Yugi was surprised to see a bigger than life image of the Puzzle, even down to the Eye in the centre. He stared in silence as did Yami no Yuugi both admiring his handiwork, before Yugi decided to speak.

"Yami no Yuugi that was amazing but why did you do it at this time of night? And where did you find all those dominoes?"

Yami no Yuugi was already placing the dominoes back into their boxes, he checked that each one had complete sets as he spoke. _"For some reason, I couldn't sleep, I thought playing a game would help make me sleepy so I came downstairs. I opened the one of the drawers and found the sets of dominoes." _He waved his hand in the direction of the drawers which he had placed near the TV for his project. _"I suddenly got the urge to stack them… it was just a row at first, but then I wanted to make it more challenging and I started to make more room..."_

"I get the picture. Do you need some help cleaning up?"

Yami no Yuugi smiled. _"I made the mess, I should clean it up. Please go back to bed, I'll put everything back to where it was I promise."_

Yugi was reluctant to leaving his guest to tidy up, but Yami no Yuugi was so insistent that he relented and he returned to bed. Yami was waiting for him "sitting" on the edge of the bed. He enquired if he was okay and Yugi told the spirit what he had seen downstairs as he got back in bed.

/ I would like to see Yami no Yuugi's skills for myself. /

Yugi nodded, already half asleep and muttered "In the morning" before he fell back into a comfortable sleep.

Yugi woke up due to the familiar beeping of his alarm, if not for that he would have continued sleeping. He was in the bathroom, washing his face and trying to brush his unruly spikes, when he recalled the crazy events of the night that led him to be so tired. He stopped brushing and immediately went downstairs to look at the living room, not a chair or cushion out of place. He scratched the side of his head and wondered if what he had seen was just some crazy dream.

The shop seemed quiet, so he carefully walked back upstairs as if to balance out the noise he must have made on the way down. It wouldn't be right to wake up their guest….maybe he should ask Yami no Yuugi if he had built an image out of dominoes in the middle of the night? He mentally sweatdropped now he sounded crazy. He dressed quickly, slinging the Puzzle around his neck and mentally said "good morning" to the spirit who seemed more wake than he did when he replied in kind.

Yugi realised that time was passing and rushed downstairs to the kitchen to find Grandpa and Yami no Yuugi sitting opposite each other, both lost in deep mental concentration. He noticed a plate piled high with buttered toast waiting for him and he helped himself, before taking in more details of what the other two occupants were doing.

The two had a chess board on the table between them; Yugi could also see their own plates of toast which as soon as the game had started had been left forgotten. They were by the looks of things just starting a game. Yami no Yuugi was white, while his Grandpa was black.

Yami no Yuugi had already moved his pawn two spaces into the centre of the board, Yugi could see that allowed him the opportunity to move one of his bishop pieces or the most powerful pieces of chess, his queen.

Yugi could hear the Spirit of the Puzzle giving him a play by play of why it was such a good move to begin with because it aided Yami no Yuugi in gaining control of the centre which was as far as Yugi could tell was crucial to help win the game.

As Yugi and Yami thought about the logical choice of the moves, Yami no Yuugi was mentally surveying his territory. His opponent was wise, crafty and for all he knew had far more experience in this kind of battle than him, but he would not surrender right at the start!

But Grandpa had moved his opposing black pawn to block any further advances of that singular pawn while at the same time gave the same opportunities Yami no Yuugi had. Neither one could remove the opposing pawn without moving other pieces. Yugi placed the toast in his mouth as he ran upstairs to retrieve his bag for school and came back to see Yami no Yuugi move one of his knights so it was behind his pawn, but was able to attack his Grandpa's black pawn. Yugi had heard this move was called the "King's Knight Opening". He blinked; did that mean Yami no Yuugi had played chess before? Or was it just a random choice of a beginner?

Yami no Yuugi watched Grandpa's eyes, who didn't reveal anything about his long term plan. If Grandpa was so keen on guarding, he would attack first. He would not allow a stalemate. He was already thinking of his own counters to the old man's defences.

Yugi watched Grandpa move another black pawn into a position, in order to defend his first one, but immediately Yami no Yuugi moved in with his knight taking the first pawn that blocked his own. Yugi couldn't help but watch his Grandpa's returning move using the second black pawn to capture the knight and seemingly returning the board to how it had been before.

Yugi could feel the battle of wills over the board; the two were watching each other for any weaknesses or tell tale signs of their future strategy. Yami no Yuugi's face held a faint confidant smile, while Grandpa's face remained completely calm as he chose his moves with precision.

Yugi decided to talk, since during the choices he had finished his breakfast and needed to be off. "Grandpa, Yami no Yuugi, I'm going to school."

The two seemed to snap out of their personal battle over the white and black squares. Grandpa smiled. "Have a good day at school Yugi."

Yami no Yuugi also added the same well-wishing and asked for him to tell his friends he said hi. Yugi said that he would and asked Yami no Yuugi what he intended to do, Grandpa replied for him.

"After this old man shows this youngster how to play chess. I thought he could help me around the shop, cleaning, dusting, stocking up." He gave Yugi a wink. "I'll teach this boy a few things about games."

Yami no Yuugi smiled. _"It will be a great experience."_

Yugi returned a smile and said goodbye as he left the shop and made his way to school.

The hospital reception's routine had been relatively normal, although just like in all care professions a true routine was practically impossible, until some strange people arrived. The woman who was at the station couldn't place what was "strange" about the two men and the woman as they approached. It was probably the way they walked, it seemed almost military in the case of the men, like not a single motion could be wasted.

They stopped by reception and silently rang the bell, once and waited. The receptionist approached and asked how she could help.

"We're looking for someone, a colleague of ours, he was very ill and we're checking the hospitals to see if you might have him in one of your beds, so we can take him home."

The receptionist looked at the young man with short green hair who had spoken, he was wearing a white collared shirt, and one arm had a simple black band near the wrist, and dark trousers. He sounded concerned but his voice was also very calm, the receptionist found this mixture of emotions unusual, if the person was so ill, shouldn't a friend be frantic, not this calm? Even though it was a small thing, she couldn't help noticing it.

"What's your friend's name?"

The second man, very young with long white hair that seemed to spread out wildly, he spoke in voice that seemed naturally angry. "We believed that if he was as sick as we thought he would still be unconscious, so telling you his name wouldn't help."

The green haired man spoke again in a quiet tone as if trying to smooth things out between his companion. "He has quite an unusual appearance, blond hair near the forehead, but the rest is mostly black and magenta around the outside-" He noticed the woman's eyes recognise the description. "Is he here?"

She shook her head, she remembered what had happened because the boy had looked so mysterious and she had been interested. "He recovered and was discharged."

The three looked at her as if she was mad. "He discharged himself?"

She shook her head again. "No."

The angrier man placed his hands down on the desk. "Who did?" His brown eyes seemed to try and bore a hole right through her body with just his gaze alone.

Her voice trembled when she replied. "I believe it was a relative…"

She continued to stare into the brown eyes, until the other pulled his friend away by the crook of his arm. "Thank you for your assistance." The three then left the hospital and after that nerve-wracking experience the receptionist nurse couldn't wait to get off her shift.

Outside the three strangers walked away from the building quietly, until they were in a quiet area and the woman spoke for the first time. "A relative? Do you think that maybe they were talking about the one who lives here?"

The white haired one nodded, as he folded his arms, gloved hands visible for a second. "I agree. You know the one we are looking for has no family, except those we have custody of."

The final member sighed as he tugged at his short haired fringe. "We have to follow every lead, if this lead is the one we've been looking for and he has been taken in by civilians; then this has become a critical situation. We'll just have to make sure we get him before he starts remembering anything."


	5. My Other Self

Welcome to the fifth chapter! I'm sorry for the lack of updates, so sorry. It just took a long time. I'd like to thank Sakura for double checking my chapters and pointing out mistakes and things to rewrite and for all the great people that checked the story out. I now have over a hundred hits!

Bakura: "If you ask me, it's still pitiful! No one's reviewing!"

The story will jump to different points which are indicated by the ruler between them to show a change in location or character. In this chapter a new important character makes a debut, so I hope you enjoy it and tell me what you think, please review!

Tabula Rasa Chapter 5

With Yugi gone, the balance of power shifted back and forth between the pair, eventually settling in a draw at Yami no Yuugi reluctantly accepted, after all there was work to be done and money to make.

Yami no Yuugi had wanted to continue the game, but he was aware that he lived in a game shop and his new…family had to earn their bread. He watched the old man work in what seemed like a well oiled routine; opening up locked cabinets and placing merchandise out, before turning over the closed sign to open.

Yami no Yuugi waited by the table for some time, he disliked the feeling that he was not part of what he was seeing. He wished he could be a part of the day, working within the lively almost cheerful flow that the elderly man seemed to give to the chores. Finally he went up to Grandpa as he was checking that the foil card packets dispensers were full, he asked him.

"_Can I help you with the shop?"_

Grandpa immediately accepted the offer. Yami no Yuugi soon found himself tidying the shelves, checking that the dice were all in the right containers and even got to stock up the small machines that if you placed in a coin in the handle connected underneath and gave it a twist, a capsule or item would pop out. He loved handling the brightly coloured plastic eggs, especially since the Motous had more than one machine. He got to fill them with all sorts of different things, including marbles, collective coins, and his personal favourite bouncy balls. When he saw them he just had to take one of the rubber balls and bounce it on the floor to see the force of the rebound. He caught the ball before it bounced a second time and ricochet adding it to the many others before locking up the machines.

It was peaceful enough work, and he knew that he was always being watched by Grandpa, doing the chores kept him busy enough so that the loss of his memories and what he should do did not hound him so much. Customers came and went, but it was Grandpa that dealt with them all. Occasionally Yami no Yuugi would listen as the more seasoned gamers asked about the quality of different products, the slight differences that made things more valuable or worthless. Whether he had such a card from a particular edition, and when someone tried to trade Yami no Yuugi found it very hard not to watch the master salesman at work.

Just because he didn't attempt to talk to people, doesn't mean they didn't try to speak to him sometimes. Many times has he had worked among the shelves. He had seen adults looking at him; most of them were wearing a strange device on their arms and a belt with a pouch. Most of the time, they had called him "Yugi", before they noticed his red eyes or Grandpa told them that he wasn't his grandson.

He was astounded that Yugi was so well known; Grandpa told him when the store was quiet that Yugi was a famous duelist, and Yami no Yuugi had no idea what that meant, but he actually surprised that Yugi who seemed such a polite and average person was some kind of game celebrity.

Grandpa explained the concept of Duel Monsters to Yami no Yuugi in basic terms, but Yami no Yuugi seemed to find himself mentally finishing the sentences. He also discovered that the white dragon card was part of this game. The youth decided that he would wait for Yugi to return and ask…after all the shop still needed to be managed. He continued to do whatever small task Grandpa asked of him, glad to be of help.

The two were not doing much, Yami no Yuugi was rearranging the display chess board and Grandpa was wiping the glass counter, when they heard the ring of the bell as the door brushed against it. Grandpa immediately smiled and asked if he could help in any way.

"I'm just looking for now thank you."

The moment Yami no Yuugi heard that voice, he felt all the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He nearly shivered, and he turned around to see a young man glancing at the games. He didn't see the reason the voice had made him react, the guy looked normal, except for the green hair but he wasn't one to talk about strange hairstyles. He didn't seem have a deep frightening voice.

Yami no Yuugi froze when he saw the customer looking at him with dark eyes, not brown but more closer to black. In that second Yami no Yuugi had this desire to run, like a small animal being cornered by something bigger with claws.

"Could you pass me some of those paddle toys?" The man smiled at him. Yami no Yuugi couldn't shake off the feeling that he was dangling over the maw of some huge beast. He swallowed before he spoke.

"_Of course sir." _He went over to the where the toys hung, paddles with a rubber ball connected by an elastic band. They were hung in plastic wrappings, dangling via hooks. He took one off. _"Just one sir?"_

"Make it three, please." Yami no Yuugi took two more off, and passed them to the customer, who thanked him. He still couldn't shake the feeling off, even though he couldn't understand where it was coming from. He found himself watching the customer pay and leave, the feeling didn't disperse until he left. Only then did he breathe and wonder, what had just happened?

* * *

Hugin left the shop, watching the fugitive from the corner of his eyes. He carried the bag that bore a small turtle and the words "game shop" on both sides. He knew from research that the Yugi here did not have red eyes nor did his counterpart. It had been him, it appeared that the "boy" had no clue of who had been standing in front of him, and that was natural. They had only seen each other once or twice, but still if he could remember, he would have recognised him. 

He found his two partners relaxing on a bench, the moment he sat down between them; Diva immediately began looking at the contents. "Paddle toys!" She said, with a nearly childish lilt. She took one of the three out and began to unwrap it. Munin snorted at the tone of voice she was using.

"Hugin brought them to have an excuse to go in the shop, not for you to play with."

Hugin shook his head. "Let her play with one, I've already paid for them." He didn't see the point of scolding Diva, she had a tendency to act immature sometimes, but it wasn't her fault. Munin tended to forget that and took the woman's attitude personally.

"Hugin, was he there?" He said impatiently, Munin hated wasting time especially if he could be doing something more important and they were always busy. Hugin smiled as he recalled the clueless crimson eyes.

"Yeah, he's there. Stocking up toys and he had no idea who I was." Hugin could hear Diva softly counting how many times she got the ball to hit the paddle as he spoke. She had to keep flicking her long black hair and her dark blue ribbons behind her head as it interfered with her vision. Hugin loved to watch her, even if she was doing something "immature".

"I'm not surprised, so what are we going to do? Should we just kidnap him next chance we get?" Munin made a motion with his arm as if he was whacking an invisible person on the back of the head. "Knock him out and get him back?"

Hugin had expected that from his friend, that plan had serious flaws now. "If he just vanishes, they are going to worry, especially after just being with them for a short time. If he has no reason to leave, kidnapping him will cause a stir. We have to get him to leave on his own terms."

"- Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty two…"

Munin snatched the paddle off Diva, and yelled at her. "Will you cut that out?!" He threw the paddle ball toy into the nearby trash bin.

Diva whined. "Munin, I was nearly on twenty three! For throwing mine away I'm taking yours!"

"I don't want it!"

"Fine!"

Hugin chuckled as his team mates squabbled over the bag. They were going to have to get serious soon, but he'd rather not lose his hand by getting in-between them. They would have to gently remind the maverick about things, and if they couldn't. They still had something truly dear to him. They had his other self after all.

* * *

The sun's heat seemed as heavy as lead as it burned into his back. His clothes were damp and sticky with sweat and covered with light brown dust. He didn't know where he was, the one thing he knew was that he was on a road and all roads lead to somewhere. If he could find a town, a village or even someone else out in this land, maybe he could survive long enough to get home. 

Yuugi used the back of his hand to wipe sweat off his forehead. His black jacket was tied around his waist and concealed his only protection in this wilderness, a crimson blade that hung from his belt in a black sheath which hit the side of his leg as he walked. His white shirt was creased, and the collar was loose and scruffy.

When they had shoved him out into this place; when he hit the ground he had to go into a roll in order to not seriously get hurt. Dust had rose around him like a cloud, stinging his eyes, making them water, and stuck in his throat making him cough. He hadn't bothered getting up, if he didn't look like he was in pain, they'd more likely kick him in his sides to keep him down. He landed in tough dead branches and fallen leaves, the twigs poked him in the stomach but he lay completely still and didn't bother disguising his coughs and groans for what they were.

"You want to be free, well here you go." They had taunted him. "We may come back for you, but we might not. So you might want to find some food and shelter." Yuugi didn't bother looking up so he never saw them vanish. He waited a good five minutes before he got up.

He found himself surrounded by thick shrubbery, he had been partially aware of them, but had luckily missed them as he had fallen into a "clearing". He got up, his legs sore, and surveyed the land. Front of him, it would have been a desert if not for the dense layer of shrubbery that blanketed the ground like a mini-forest. He turned around, but it didn't look much better in the other direction, the ground rose into a small but quite steep hill, blocking his view.

Yuugi had licked his dry lips, as he walked over to it. If he could climb to the top, maybe he could see what was further beyond the mini-forest. As he had begun his walk up, his sneakers had slipped on the baked crumbling soil, making him topple forward. He had to dig into the soil until he got his footing back.

Lying in the dirt, like a fried egg, he had wished his Mou hitori no boku (his Other Self) had been with him to give him a hand. He could so easily picture how his partner would have knelt down in front of him and offer his hand with a half smile, saying. _"Come on Abiou (Partner) the top is just ahead." _

He had know his other self would not lie in the dirt, so he had pushed himself up and scrambled to the top before the dirt made him slip. Reaching the top had had the greatest sense of accomplishment, but it gained a rather flat feel to it when he saw that there was no sign of a town, village or city.

The only sign of civilization had been the snake like dirt road that went through shrubbery in front of him. Yuugi realised the only way to it was to walk through the shrubbery, he had slide down the hill, not caring about his trousers. The trek through the tough trees had been painful, he had never through that plants could scratch before, but his thin cotton trousers had been no protection and he ended up with deep scratches all over his legs and some long ones on his arms. He would have used his knife to cut the plants away, but he was uncomfortable with using any kind of weapon.

Now he had been on the road for what seemed like hours, his legs stung, he had taken ten minute breaks every now and then using his black jacket like a tent over his head to ward off the heat of the sun, but it was still an exhausting process. He had no food or water; the plants didn't seem to have anything edible growing on them. So Yuugi knew his only salvation was whatever was at the end of this road.

When the village appeared, Yuugi was convinced he had begun to see things like in desert movies and cartoons, or he had wanted to see a town so badly it had popped up. Yuugi saw it; he would have laughed, if he wasn't so parched, instead of running towards it like a madman. He took deep breaths and tried to get rid of the tickle in his throat. He was nearly there, then he could drink as much as he could (surely they weren't so inhuman that they would withhold water from a parched traveller?) he would recover and find out when he was. He entered the town.

Yuugi walked into the town along the road he had been following for hours, the first thing he did before he acknowledge where he was, was seek shade as soon as he saw it. He walked up a set of wooden steps of the closest house onto a raised platform, and sighed as the coolness took effect. The platform was shielded by the sun via a huge blind of material that hung over him. Normally Yuugi would have concluded that such a thing had been placed up to shield the wood from rain, but after seeing the countryside and experiencing the weather for himself, Yuugi was sure that the owner was just as keen as him to have relief from the sun.

Yuugi had sat under the shade, his back against the bumpy sawed half logs that made the wall of the house, when he noticed that it was incredibly quiet and still. It was now starting to sink in, how abnormal that was; no town is absolutely silent in the middle of a day. Even if people wanted to escape the heat, there would be some people sitting out under shaded spots like this, and in every town there were jobs that needed doing no matter what the weather.

Yuugi seemed to finally register the house he sitting under. He stood up, taking it in for the first time. Primarily he had gone under it for the shade effect, he hadn't really looked, and now he could see that while the building looked okay from a far, but close up there were signs. The windows were specked with dust and grime, Yuugi could even make lines if he drew his finger along the pane. There even seemed to be places in the wood that made up the house, where it was growing moss or rotting. If people lived in the houses, they wouldn't let them fall into such disrepair, would they?

Yuugi became increasingly aware of the dryness in his mouth and the growling in his stomach. If there were no people did that mean there was no food or water here? He tried the door, and got a bad feeling in his stomach at the thought of invading another person's home even if it was vacant now that didn't make it right.

The house inside was even more dilapidated than the outside, silvery dust lay over everything. The air was cold and dim apart from the faint shafts that came from the windows that lit up the dust hovering in the air that Yuugi disturbed by his mere presence inside. Yuugi headed down the house looking for a kitchen, trying his best not to take in too many details of the people who lived here before; otherwise he would grow too spooked to continue further.

When he found the kitchen and saw it had a sink, he immediately turned the taps, they did not turn easily and there were rattling noises in the pipes, but eventually water came out. Yuugi's face turned in distaste as he saw the water was a rusty red and definitely undrinkable. The sound of water made his throat feel worse, as he decided to wait to see if the water cleared.

With the state of the water and a lack of a fridge the prospect of edible food did not seem hopeful. He couldn't help noticing the kitchen table, which was set up as if waiting for a family to return. Plates, knives and forks, there was even signs that food had been on those plates because there was mould. Yuugi's stomach turned; when you're hungry it was the last thing you wanted to see. He prayed that the water was at least salvageable and turned his eyes back to the sink.

Clear looking water was going down the drain. Yuugi held his cupped hands out to catch some, he sniffed it but he couldn't smell anything and took a sip. It tasted slightly metallic, but it seemed like the best water ever. He knew that the water from the taps could be contaminated especially if no one was around taking care of it, but he also knew if he didn't drink any water eventually he would be dead. It was best to drink the water and live a little longer then be over cautious and die of thirst.

Afraid he would not find any more water if he continued onwards, he searched in the cupboards for any empty containers or bottles he could find. The ones he found were dusty, after washing them out he filled them up as much as he could. Soon he had about six bottles of water (about the average size of a soda bottle), but nothing to carry them in. He took a couple of drinks from the taps, feeling much better. His search hadn't revealed any food, so eventually he left the house and went to look in others.

Each residential house he had entered was the same as the first, they seemed as if the people inside had been going around with their daily lives and had vanishing, leaving the houses frozen in that moment. He found in one house, a play pen had seen set up and children's colourful toys were still in the same spot as where the baby must have left it. Any food left in the houses were spoiled beyond all recognition, Yuugi had even found a cupboard filled with preserved foods in jars, however they were covered in fine spider webs so Yuugi had left them alone to look elsewhere.

It was growing dark when Yuugi finally decided to stop looking for food. It was becoming a fruitless endeavour that was just reminding him how hungry he was. The idea of sleeping in this ghost town sent shivers down his spine, what if he vanished too? He remembered reading a book about a famous ship…the something Celeste…where a ship was found abandoned at sea with a missing crew that had never been explained. The town seemed exactly the same, there was no visible reason for it being as it was.

He looked out into the distance beyond the town, it was just wide naked space, no shelter or protection and to sleep out there in the dark like that seemed just as insane as sleeping in the "Celeste" town.

Eventually he decided to stay in town despite how creepy it was. He went into what had been the local restaurant and bar, which was one of the biggest buildings in the town he had seen. Glasses still stood on the countertop, all alcohol that may have been left had probably evaporated. Other bottles were still on display, tables and chairs were still neatly set up, although Yuugi didn't want to try them out after all the disrepair he had seen.

Yuugi sat down on the floor and placed a borrowed backpack next to him. He had found it in one of the houses and was using it to carry his water supply around. He had checked all the taps in each house, finding "clean" water in most and had kept it in any clean containers he could. He couldn't stay in a dead town after all, without food he'd probably be dead in a month or so. With water, he might make it to a one with food, the idea that all the towns could be like this one… he couldn't bare to think like that.

He placed a hand on his weapon, he had never thought he would ever have a weapon or think about using one, but now he needed the reassurance of having something he could use to protect himself. He drew his knees up to his chest, looped one of the straps of the back pack through an arm to keep it close, and tried to get some sleep.

* * *

Yami no Yuugi sighed in relief, when Grandpa turned the sign of the shop from open to closed. For some reason, his legs felt sore, even though he hadn't done much. Yugi had returned home about an hour ago, and had asked how Yami no Yuugi was. He had been happy to tell Yugi all about his day and after doing so brought up the subject of duel monsters. Yugi was ecstatic to hear that he had an interest, and was more than willing to play a game with him. 

Grandpa stopped Yugi before it went further to ask his grandson on whether his homework had been done, Yami no Yuugi also said that homework was a bigger priority and that he was willing to learn from him another time, while Grandpa was teaching him the basics.

So Yugi was upstairs finishing some assignment, Yami no Yuugi wasn't sure what Yugi had, whether it was English, Science, Maths or another subject completely. Grandpa was busy making dinner, Yami no Yuugi had already helped him close up the shop front. He asked Grandpa if he needed help, but was politely turned down. Bored, he headed upstairs to rest a little bit. He went to the bathroom, splashed his face and it was there he noticed the scratches on his arms. He rolled up his sleeves to look at them. They were faint but very long and he couldn't remember rubbing up against anything sharp.

He placed his sleeves back; maybe he had done it and just not noticed it. He let the bathroom, when he could hear Yugi speaking.

"So I have to do this and this?"

Yami no Yuugi blinked as he listened. After a minute, he felt guilty eavesdropping and he quickly went to his room to lie on the bed and lightly sleep until dinner was ready. As he fell to sleep, his mind drifted and he wondered why he had felt such a weird sense of terror when he had met that person in the shop? Had he been running from that stranger?

He then wondered about Yugi, and what he had heard when he was in his room alone. Had he been talking to someone on the phone? No he thought to himself, he was sure that wasn't right, because he had heard Yugi writing as he spoke and while some people could write and talk on phones it was impractical. What had made Yami no Yuugi more confused was the name he had heard spoken.

"So this is right, isn't it Yami?" There had been a pause and Yugi had continued speaking. "Thanks Yami, you seem to be a natural at this. I don't suppose you can do this for me?" It had sent a prickling chill up his neck to hear Yugi laugh at nothing and say "Just kidding."

Maybe it was nothing, maybe it had just been a phone call, he thought as he tried to get comfortable in his bed. It was probably nothing, the name didn't mean anything, he probably misheard and people spoke to themselves all the time right?


	6. Journey for Freedom

The sixth chapter is here! Again I thank Sakura for double checking my work. Thank you, thank you. I felt guilty not updating in so long that I have decided to put this chapter up at the same time as number 5. Please enjoy and review.

Tabula Rasa Chapter 6

"He's up to something!" Joey said with heated conviction, as he put his fork in his mouth and chewed on a piece of his lunch. The rest of the group ate their lunches quietly, they readied themselves for what they were sure was coming… it was becoming routine despite the short amount of time.

It was time for "Professor Joseph Wheeler's Conspiracy Hour!" with your host Joey Wheeler, this event is brought to you by our sponsor paranoia. It had been four days since Yami no Yuugi had accepted into Yugi's home, and the gang were growing accustomed to see a crimson eyed duplicate of Yugi walking around (they used his black clothes to distinguish him from Yugi when approaching from behind). However, this had also leaded to discussions among the group, mostly about what this could all mean, and of course if it involved magic.

Tea raised the issue of having him hang out with them, and show him around the area, so he could learn where things are, grow used to the place and maybe he would remember something about where his family was, how he got here and stuff like that.

Yugi agreed wholeheartedly with the idea, he hated talking about Yami no Yuugi behind his back while he was helping Grandpa at the shop. Yami was the same way, he wanted to be friends with Yami no Yuugi and challenge him to a couple of games. Yugi couldn't help but laugh as he felt the same as his spiritual counterpart when it came to gaming opponents.

Tristan also liked the idea, mostly because he assumed they could pull some interesting stunts and pranks with a fake Yugi around. Ryou had had to hide a smile and in some cases a surprised choke as Tristan described things from the stupid to the just plain nuts.

Joey would normally support a plan to use Yami no Yuugi to pretend to be Yugi and get multiple school lunches, Ryou poked the many holes in the plan, like the money to pay for all of them and how was it any different from them going back in the lines? Where was the need for duplicity?

Joey was strongly against it, and this had shown itself in these moments, where he announced he had finally figured out the fake Yugi's agenda…except he never said "agenda".

"Joey, I really don't think he's up to anything. He's always polite to us when we see him." Tea said as she took a sip of her drink. It had become her and Yugi's role in this portion of the day to counter the crazy arguments that Joey made, while Tristan seemed to egg him on. Ryou merely watched with a bemused expression.

"That's all part of his scheme. He's acting polite so we let our guard down and accept him, but he doesn't realise that Joey Wheeler is too smart to fall for such tricks!"

"What is it this time Joey?" Tristan enquired with a jovial tone. "Is he an alien? An evil clone? A robot?"

Joey stood then, his eyes sparkled with the conviction of what he was about to announce. "He is…. an evil mirror twin!!!!"

The gang stared at him in frozen disbelief, huge sweatdrops formed as they looked at his beaming face as if he had solved the origin of the universe. It was Ryou who asked in his polite British tones. "He's a what?"

"An evil mirror twin." Joey repeated it in the tone of one who thought it was supremely obvious, similarly to how a person would answer another if asked what the yellow ball in the sky was.

Yugi was the next one, carefully taking over for Ryou as he took a bite of his sandwich. "And what exactly is that Joey?"

Joey looked at Yugi's disbelieving expression, sat down with a thump and pulled out a pen and took one of the many unused napkins on the table and started to doodle on it. The gang leaned in to see what he was drawing.

Joey finished and pulled back and the gang looked at his efforts. Yugi sweatdropped again and couldn't help having a hurt tone. He pointed at one picture. "Is that supposed to be me?"

Joey tapped it with the butt of the pen. "That's Yami no Yuugi." He pointed at another picture which was a round oval. "See, what happened is. He is from a magic mirror, where the world there is completely opposite. He got through it, and his mission is to learn more about all of us to replace us with evil twins!" He taps at a second picture that looked like an evil Yugi with fang like teeth, pulling evil looking versions of themselves through this mirror. "And take over the world!"

"Joey, why is it that every plan you've come up with so far, involves him trying to replace me?"

"Because Yugi, you have the Puzzle and magic, you could stop the evil mirror!"

Tristan started whistling the tune from the "Twilight Zone", telling everyone that he personally felt Joey was watching too much late time TV again.

Tea smiled. "Then we should invite him out more, so he can't work on his "evil plan" to takes us to his mirror world." Tea didn't believe it for a second, but she enjoyed using Joy's fantasies to promote her own ideas. So far Joey had been unable to come up with a counter argument.

Just like the times before it Joey was speechless, and to cover that he bit into his sausages. The gang smiled, they'd known the outcome as soon as it had started. Yugi was convinced that Joey would lose the crazy ideas if they hung out more often with Yami no Yuugi. After school, they would show him around town, he thought happily.

* * *

Yuugi had not slept well during the night. The empty town had not remained silent, and the slightest rustle had waked him from troubled dreams. Boards creaked as if someone was walking on them, shadows seemed to hide things and because they moved Yuugi found himself constantly gripping the hilt of his dagger.

People in movies would get up and check these things out for their own peace of mind. People in films would be brave, look in the shadows and laugh when they realise that it was nothing but their imagination. People in the movies would then sleep more peacefully knowing that. Yuugi was not in a movie, he kept his back to the wall, and he checked the shadows around him and ensured his backpack filled with water was still there.

It wasn't the fact it was dark that he was scared, he had told himself over and over, and because he believed just being scared of the dark itself would make him a child. It was also that fact that he was the only soul in an unfamiliar place and because of the strange way it had been left.

His mind was a terrible trickster, teasing him with the idea of ghosts of the town coming back to continue their former activities in life. You heard stories about ghosts coming out at night and reliving their last moments. When he thought about it, it added new terror to the natural creaks and groans.

He knew that he shouldn't be afraid of the idea of spirits and ghosts…that was what his best friend was scared of, maybe it had rubbed off? His Other Self was also a kind of ghost wasn't he? Yuugi had always considered his Other Self something like a new persona born of magic…not a ghost.

Still if something got the people here, it was probably easy for it to get him too. He gripped his weapon all the more tightly as he thought that.

Not only was he worried about supernatural things coming to get him, the shadows in the night, but he was worried about the men that had teased him. They said they may come back, his freedom did not involve food, comfortable sleep and safety, but it was his freedom and he wanted to keep it.

He had to leave the town as soon as it was light; eventually it came slowly stroking the windows with its glow. He sighed with relief, his fearful night over. He had no map or compass to show where he was going, so he would have to rely on the "road" and the sun. He wasn't sure about using the sun, but it rose in the east and sank in the west, so it should help.

He used one of the abandoned bathrooms before going. He double checked everything again, he didn't find much worth eating the second time round. He shivered as he saw the rooms, looking too normal to be abandoned and left.

The land was flat with the same dried out and mummified thorn bushes that had plagued him all the way to the town all around him. The plants were blackish-green as if they had been overcooked by the sun far too long. The dried rough lines along the thin stems and the sharp thorns made the plants look inedible; even if he was starving he doubted he could even bite into one of them. No berries were on them not even flowers to brighten his trip through them… the only way these plants seemed to stick around was by being too nasty to be bothered with.

Yuugi had little experience with long treks under the sun with a huge weight on his back. It didn't take long for his back to start protesting under the weight of the bag. He gritted his teeth and decided to carry the bag in his hands for a while. That didn't exactly improve things, sometimes he sat down to give his arms and back a rest. At these points he would take a few sips of water lightening the load little by little.

He'd look around at these points, sometimes yelping as his leaned too close to the bushes that had escorted him the whole time along the make shift road. The long gnarly twisted branches made him think of a fairy tale where someone had to fight through thorns…that was something he hoped he didn't have to do.

He looked at the path that brightened his mood, there had to be something at the other end. He hitched the bag back on his shoulders a new resolve growing in him. He would make it! There was bound to be a town or city, or just a house where someone could give him a ride to a more populated area.

He left the warm glow from these thoughts fill him as he continued to march. He tried to keep his pace steady; he didn't want to waste his strength. He daydreamed about how he would meet someone along the road, find out where he was, where the nearest restaurant was, all he really wanted was a burger.

He imagined those who had dumped him reappearing and discovering him gone. It made him grin, knowing that they wouldn't know where he was. Soon he would be so far away, they would never catch him.

It took a long time for the landscape to change, and to Yuugi's eyes these changes were hard to see. The first thing he noticed was the signs of grass growing in the shade of the thorn bushes, and he wouldn't have even noticed it until a stalk or two had been crushed underfoot. It wasn't the green grass, as in "the grass is always greener", but it made Yuugi feel lighter on some level. Grass water. Grass and water animals. Animals (hopefully) people who would hunt them or at least fruit because not all animals nibbled grass.

He had an impulse to run, but he kept it under control and kept to a steady walk. Soon the silent natural road gained sounds. A few fragments of bird song reached his ears and as trees that were more people friendly appeared, so did the sound of limbs creaking or leaves rustling.

Yuugi explored these trees with his eyes for any sign of fruit, so far no luck. His first night he slept under one of these trees, just out of the way of the uncomfortable roots. As the second day continued, his stomach growled but he didn't need the noises to remain him how hungry he was. He felt lighter, from not eating for so long, he knew that people could survive longer, he just wasn't use to it.

Still he walked on, the changing of the land made him feel good about his destination.

* * *

Yami no Yuugi sweatdropped as he tried to take in all the scenes and buildings. He was in the middle of the group, Yugi, Tea were happily chatting about their favourite places. Yami no Yuugi felt a bit like a celebrity with all the attention, he had been delighted to be accepted by them when he felt like a total outsider.

Part of his neck was starting to hurt from having to twist around so quickly to follow the pointing fingers, Yugi's pointed one way, while Tea's pointed another. Sometimes the fingers even crossed, and the taller guys in the group had to duck. His blood fizzled as the chatter made him as excited as they were…. Still he was getting a little overwhelmed.

"I think we should stop and take a break." Ryou said in a polite but nearly apologetic voice. Yami no Yuugi liked Ryou's calming spirit in the whirling chaos that was everyone else, especially at this moment when he thought his brain would overload with all the new information.

Still there was something about Ryou, his hair and eyes that reminded him of…someone else, but the voice and disposition didn't fit and he couldn't quite remember the situation where he had met the individual. Still it was an annoying mental itch that he had been scratching at all day.

"Ryou's, right maybe we should do something to relax. Yami no Yuugi needs time to get use to things himself." Yugi said supportively.

"Then what about a game, like basketball?"

"Joey, Basketball is not relaxing!" Tea wagged a finger under his nose with a scolding note in her voice.

"Yeah it is, and we can get sport drinks for after. A quick game won't hurt." Joey tried to appeal to Yugi's love of games, and everyone's inward curiosity of what Yami no Yuugi would be like in a game. Would he have Yugi's uncanny abilities to get the hang of any game?

Joey could practically hear everyone's minds turn and start to like the idea, only Tea and Yami no Yuugi seemed immune to the buzz that followed. Tea seemed to be against it for some reason.

"We'll have three on three."

"Yugi can be on one side and Yami no Yuugi could be on the other." Tristan added.

"What about Yami no Yuugi? Maybe he doesn't want to play?" Tea tried to speak in-between. She sighed, when the guys went into competition, she could do nothing to stop it, except add the occasional "You can do it!" if she was on the side line.

She turned her gaze to Yami no Yuugi. "You okay with this?" Yami no Yuugi smiled at her, it was almost cute, because it seemed quite shy.

"_I don't mind, it is nice to be around people with…" _He seemed to grapple for a word. _"So much energy, besides I think I would like to play."_

It didn't take them long to find a court with a hoop, the ball was more difficult, but soon enough they had one which Joey and Tristan toyed with first "to test its firmness honest" was their excuse. Yugi and Yami no Yuugi both removed their jackets, but kept on their collared shirts and Puzzles.

Ryou, Joey and Yugi were one team, Yami no Yuugi, Tea and Tristan were the other. The only rule was to keep the ball in court and basically make the most hoops. The first ten minutes were a warm up. Soon enough the ball was bouncing on the concrete, Yami no Yuugi and Tristan both headed for Joey who was dribbling the ball, Tristan reached first only to have Joey pass to Ryou.

Ryou gazed at the ball for an instant with a blank kind of horror, before seeing Yami no Yuugi coming for him, and he quickly tried to run away with the ball and get it to the hoop. Yami no Yuugi may not have been tall, but he had good speed and was able to block Ryou from achieving goals just by being in the right place to stop advancement.

Tea and Tristan soon helped to surround Ryou, who was just able to pass it to Yugi. Yugi attempted to make a shot, since he was right next to the hoop. Sadly his aim was off and the ball bounced off the metal ring.

Joey was the only one who was near the ball and he caught it, soon enough Yami no Yuugi's team changed their tactics and covered their opponents. Yami no Yuugi blocked Ryou, and Tea did the same for Yugi who had nearly scored and needed to be covered.

Everyone was soon running around like bees, or those strange dots in football play diagrams that moved in cartoons and bounced from place to place. Joey was able to score a point using Tristan's hair to his advantage (although at the end he said he had merely done it to see if the point would bend). Yami no Yuugi scored a point, which nearly went the other way.

After the first points were scored the game became gridlocked, for a long time everyone yelled at each other, as they tried to block the ball and secure it themselves. Breaths came fast and warm and everyone worked up a sweat. Tea had just scored which had shocked everyone, because she seemed to have rose out of the sky as if she had wings on her shoes, when they realised they were losing light.

Everyone stopped, started taking deep breaths as their exertion finally caught up with them and Joey murmured something about getting his hands on a giant soda and an even bigger burger.

Yami no Yuugi wondered if anyone else felt as if steam was literally coming off them. Ryou was taking such a long drink from his sport drink that he wondered if he even needed to come up for air.

Joey and Tristan were praising each other for their prowess on the court with manly punches while at the same time Tristan also took Joey off for attempting to wreck his hairstyle. Yami no Yuugi was barely listening but heard something like "the ball was in more danger with that point."

Yugi came to him with a drink. "You were great." Yami no Yuugi nodded, he was too worn out to say the same. Yugi had made lots of shots; it had only been luck that his had made it in. Yami no Yuugi took a couple of sips of the drink, it was refreshing.

"_You were impressive to…" _He finally was going to say, when he saw someone or something out of the corner of his eye. Someone wearing black, like him, he turned his head but like a Magic Eye trick, the person seemed to vanish just as he turned to look. He felt a shiver down his sweating neck.

He kept his eyes on a spot just behind Yugi's shoulder, on the other side of the street, someone had been there watching him. Was he becoming paranoid, just because he had seen someone in black like him?

A hand went across his vision. "Helllooo?" Yami no Yuugi blinked and tried to collect himself as the others spoke.

"Joey that's not very nice."

"Tristan does it to me all the time Ryou."

"Maybe we should go home now. Go out again another time?"

Yugi was his saviour, Yami no Yuugi did not want to continue looking around now; he didn't feel like it with a huge ball of ice rolling around in his stomach. Despite it, the feeling and the fear, he also wanted to know what the hell was going on. So he headed for the where he had saw it.

He heard protests and questions from behind, but he kept his eyes looking straight forward. He paused at the spot and mentally back peddled what he had seen just as it had vanished, did it turn left?

He dashed off. Yugi's protesting voice followed. "Yami no Yuugi, wait up!"

* * *

Crap, crap, crap, Munin thought as he "ran" (it wasn't really running, that drew attention in a crowd, it was more of a fast jog and aiming for the spaces between people), he should have just stayed with Hugin and Diva. After hearing Hugin's description, he had decided to check it out himself.

Seeing one of their trainees playing basketball, acting like one of those mindless idiots that wandered around aimlessly, these normal everyday losers, made him want to grab the foolish boy and punch him in the face until some sense was knocked into him. Slipping into rage for that instant had allowed him to be seen.

His fingers shook angrily as he flicked his long white hair out, it was kind of a mental camouflage from behind, someone with long white hair would be automatically labelled girl, plus it hid his black uniform. Depending on how much the trainee had seen it could throw him completely off his scent. He tried to make his walk more feminine and less hurried. He then slipped into a shop.

His ears pricked as he heard the rush of running feet, but kept his eyes on the magazines that were in front of his eyes. He waited until he heard them and those that accompanied him vanish. He knew he had just made the job of observing the clueless idiot that much harder.

* * *

Yami no Yuugi had to stop, his sides were starting to hurt from his run and he was already winded from the game. He stopped, placing his hands on his knees as he breathed, he felt like he had set himself on fire. He wasn't sure what had happened to that drink but now part of him wished he had took it with him.

Where was he? He was sure it had been a man dressed in black that he had been chasing. He gazed this way and that, he spied a close passageway, and maybe he had snuck in there to get away from the crowds? He slipped inside, the minute his hand touched the wall his chest grew tight. He remembered the feeling of walking or running in a narrow space like this. It didn't feel exactly the same, but if the person had come this way, he had to go too.

"Yami… no… Yuugi!" At the mention of his name, he turned his head, to see the gang press together, their faces all the same flushed red, and their expressions made them seem so comical for a moment that Yami no Yuugi almost laughed.

"Why'd ya… run away… like that?" Joey gave him a glare that would have been full of ire if it hadn't been ruined by his worn out breathlessness.

Looking back into the narrow passage, he didn't think and just spoke. _"I think someone has been watching me, I was following them…"_

_

* * *

_

"Groowwwl" Yuugi sighed and patted his empty stomach like one would try to placate a crying puppy, but that only made the uncomfortable feeling more evident. Oh he wished he was a rabbit or something that could eat grass, and then he could eat to his heart's content.

Grass and trees, it sounds and looked peaceful and if he was an artist and had any skill he would loved to have painted what he saw, but he wanted to see food and people! His feet were really starting to hurt; his optimum was fading faster because there was still no sign of civilization except for that ghost town he had left.

Maybe I should head back…go the other way, he thought. Perhaps he had picked the wrong direction, the only problem with that was that he had travelled so far already. He didn't think he could survive going back to where he started AND walking even further in the opposite direction.

So he continued walking, even if it didn't lead to people it was the only way to go. His spirits were starting to rise until he heard a snigger next to a tree coming up ahead.

"Look how far he got, you got to be impressed, the shrimp made it this far."

Yuugi clumsily backed away from the tree, the water sloshed in his battered backpack, only to bang into something where there should have been a space. Hard fingers gripped his shoulder; another grabbed his arm that was reaching for his knife in a desperate idea to use it to get free.

Next thing, someone punched him in the gut, his stomach empty felt like a balloon that had been deflated, with nothing inside it seemed even more vulnerable and the pain more intense. As he gasped and choked being held up by an iron grip. The voice continued to taunt.

"We hoped you enjoyed your fake taste of freedom…"

Fake? Yuugi thought, what did he mean by fake? The voice continued as if it had no clue to the confusion that single word had created.

"but it's time you went back to Agency. Remember, we own you, and even if you escape you can end up somewhere just like this again, no food, no rest, and no people to help you."

Yuugi wanted to slump, had his run been for nothing. The man in front of him held up a piece of mirror that he had kept somewhere in his black uniform. Yuugi watched angry, worn out and disappointed beyond all reason as the mirror continued to grow and expand, until it stood as large as a door reflecting everything around them. Yuugi looked at his reflection; he looked so small and terrified.

The person holding him, pushed him forward right into the mirror. The cold surface of the mirror felt like a cold light shadow on his face or how cold water feels as it breaks just before you enter it on a warm day.

Shivering, he forced the backpack off his back; he wouldn't need it now, now he was back. A welcoming committee was already coming to welcome him "home".


End file.
